


Change of view

by UnpopularFanfictions



Category: SCP - Containment Breach, SCP Foundation
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23361040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnpopularFanfictions/pseuds/UnpopularFanfictions
Summary: It seemed to be just a normal day at work at the Scp facility.But somehow Scp 079 escaped and let out all the other Scp's inside the facility. As you manage to escape most danger in your path, you run into the plague doctor himself. To safe yourself from death, you forge a deal with Scp 049. He lets you live, while you help him escape.Will you make it out alive?Alone or with him?
Relationships: SCP-049 (SCP Foundation)/Reader
Comments: 160
Kudos: 328





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to everyone stumbling upon this!  
> I hope there are still people that are into the Scp fandom.  
> I'm actually surprised not a lot of people have written a containment breach fanfic before. So expect to see some other Scps besides 049...  
> As I have already said a million times, this story is almost finished meaning it only needs to be reread by me. It will be completed.  
> Hope you enjoy~

  
It happened quietly.

You were sitting in front of your computer, tipping in the results of the latest documentation of one of the Scp's. They were the reason why you took this job in the first place. As one of the Scp foundations secretary’s, it was your duty to sit in front of the computer and digitalize whatever a scientist threw in your face.  
Yes, most of them were assholes, looking down on you from that huge horse because they had a medical degree, but everything was worth it, as soon as you had another paper full of stuff about Scp's. They came in so different forms, shapes and beliefs, it fascinated you to no end.

The hard working atmosphere popped as soon as your computer turned of for no acceptable reason.

"Oh no, don't you DARE erase all the stuff I wrote!", you screamed, while repeatedly pressing the on button furiously. Luck didn't seem to side up with you today, because the light turned off as well, leaving you fuming in the darkness. _No one will see me murder that thing in the dark_ , you thought and approached the computer with an unreadable expression plastered on your face.

But to the Pc's luck, your intentions got interrupted by the sudden blaring of the alarm. You flinched and almost fell due to your swivel chair being in the way. You groaned, opening a drawer and fiddling out a flashlight.  
These alarms were getting on your nerves. It was the third one this week, and it was Wednesday. Practising evacuation is really important if you happen to work at probably the most dangerous foundation ever, but still, it's ridiculously annoying at times. Once the alarm went of because the mechanism mistook a broken toilet for a containment chamber.

You got out of the chair with a grunt and turned the flashlight on to find your way outside, to meet up with the rest at the meeting point. Another light source interrupted yours, illuminating the room enough so that the flashlight was unnecessary.  
"What the...", you muttered, trying to identify where the light came from.

Your computer.

But that was impossible. Only the most important rooms got electricity during an emergency and your office was in no way one of these. Taking small steps, you approached the traitorous pc. Data randomly opened and closed almost at the same time without the use of keyboard or mouse, like somebody was searching...  
For...

Something...

An Scp immediately appeared inside your head.  
Scp 079.  
The old AI.

A living and talking - well it could only communicate via writing- artificial intelligence residing inside a super old computer. And now making itself home inside YOUR computer! There was important data about the Scp's stored, you had to do something!

The cables.  
Without electricity, the electronic device is useless.

You jumped for the plugs, hitting the chair in the process, and ripped them out violently. Angry static noise filled your ears. You turned your head and saw a somewhat disfigured human face on the screen, brows furrowed in anger, scowling at you. Words appeared but you couldn't read them fast enough. The computer turned off, leaving behind a calming, black screen. You let out a huff of air you instinctively hold back and took a few deep breaths.

This wasn't another goofy accidental test alarm.  
This was real.

Scp 079 got out and who knows what that hostile super intelligent AI would do once it got access to the main hard drive.

\--

You burst through the door, determined to find others wo had the knowledge to end this.  
Well, authority since your keycard wasn't high enough to reach any of the significant rooms. Eerie flickering red emergency lights awaited you, tinting the white walls in bloody red. You continued to walk into the direction where the meeting point would be. Footsteps emitted from a corridor on the left, probably people like you on their way towards the same destination. 

The people reached your vision, a few MTF units and two scientists, everyone of them wearing a terrified expression on their face. In contrast to your leisurely stroll, they were sprinting. You caught up to one of them. 

"What are we running from? Did Scp 079 found an android to posses?", you panted. The guy didn't react to your joke and continued to blankly stare forward while rambling on about something incoherently. 

"Hellooo?", you tried again.  
His head suddenly snapped to your direction, making you flinch. His eyes starred at nothing in particular. Panic overtaking his face. 

"We did it on accident. How were we supposed to know? It was said that only one broke out. We were called to evacuate others and then we saw the scientists, and weren't fast enough to avert our eyes, it was an accident and now we are dead!", the guard rambled on hysterically with genuine fear in his voice. 

You wanted to say something calming but noticed that the stomping sound of footsteps was now overlapped by a horrifying scream coming closer and closer every second. Your heart dropped. It was obvious which Scp the guard was referring to now. 

Scp 096.  
The shy man or, more commonly referred to as shy guy. 

It wasn't fair at all that they were sentenced to death because of an accident. There was nothing they could do now other than preparing for their inevitable end. But that didn't mean you had to die. You still had a chance, you had not looked at it. 

The first armed men began to shoot, signalising the arrival of the creature. You closed your eyes out of fear of accidentally looking at it. They had no chance. Screams filled the air and the smell of blood reached your nose. It was horrifying, you had no clue what was going on. You heard noises and your imagination did the rest, painting the most gruesome pictures inside your head. You clenched your eyes deeply shut. So hard, it almost hurt. 

Something bumped into you and catapulted you towards the wall. You hit your head painfully but continued onwards, making small steps along the wall, pressing your hands against your ears to keep out all the excruciating sounds. You had no idea when the tears started flowing, only noticed them as small sobs escaped your lips. 

Step by step, the painful screams died down, but you knew they would never stop inside your head. Your side was starting to hurt more and more with every step you took.  
Did all victims die, or had you gotten far enough to leave the slaughtering behind? 

You couldn't concentrate enough to listen for any sound. The before miniscule pain coming from your side was becoming unbearable. You assumed the worst. Slowly, you dared to open your eyes. 

Red liquid drenched your clothes and left a visible trace. 

"Oh shit...", you muttered. This was bad.  
Escaping would be impossible with an injury, especially since you had no clue how many Scp's had broken out. Would you even be able to run from them? The pain was barely endurable while standing. Tears started to sting in your eyes again.  
You would never make it out alive. 

Unless...  
You rubbed them away angrily.  
Scp 714 the jaded ring, an item that was able to heal every injury. Scp 500 was an option as well, but the ring could make you invincible, a skill which was much rather needed to survive all these dangerous creatures. 

Despite the waves of pain, having a plan filled you with new found hope. You opened the first door you spotted with your measly level 2 keycard and searched for a map on one of the computers. 

Some time had already passed since your incident with the old AI so it had probably scoured every electronic device in the foundation. You found the location of the ring. To your luck it resided on the same floor you were in. Blood continued to seep through your clothes, drenching the seat as well. You felt strangely lightheaded after loosing all that blood. 

There had to be some kind of first aid kit around here...  
After a quick search, you discovered one and managed to patch yourself up a bit.  
It still hurt, but at least it wasn't bleeding as much anymore, so you continued onward to bring the ring into your possession. 

The route was burned into your mind, taking the right way was no problem, because it was either dying or living if you got lost. Or worse, run into 096 again... You had to function at peak, a small mistake could cause your death if you didn't sharpen your senses. Left, right, right after you took a left... Your head started to hammer similar to a headache. Every step was agony. The next turn greeted you with dead people, not the ones that Scp 096 killed. In your hazardous state, you couldn't comprehend the scene unfaltering before you. You stumbled forward. 

There was one important thing about them. 

Key cards. 

You needed a keycard of at least level 4 to enter the jaded rings containment chamber.  
Dead eyes starred at the ceiling, expressing dread and fear. You took a shaky breath, and searched for keycards. Your vision was blurred, making it hard to identify their authority level. Level 2's and 3's were a common sight, but luckily the scientist possessed a level 4. You were close to throwing up, quickly taking the card, and leaving the disturbing scene behind. 

Time passed in a feverish hazard, it was impossible to remember everything, all that mattered was the ring. If you did not have that aim, you would've surely passed out by now. Finally you stood before your destination. A sign with the Scp's name and picture proved you right. Your dull eyes filled with hope again. Not wasting a thought, you opened the door with the newly found keycard, lurching inside. 

The jaded ring awaited you on a pedestal in the middle of the room. You managed to crack a smile for a split second, before it was devoured by another wave of pain. No time to waste any. 

You grabbed the ring.


	2. Chapter 2

  
The jaded ring fit perfectly, adjusting to your ring finger as if it was made for you.  
The pain oh the so painful throbbing in your side left, leaving only a faint memory behind. A content sigh escaped your lips. You dared to touch the gauze.   
No pain.  
It was a miracle!   
A scream of joy left your mouth next. This was straight up impossible but this little thing ignored all the laws and DID the unbelievable!

With the ring you would be able to make it out alive. Hope overpowered your doubts. A visible spring was in your step as you dashed forward, out of the chamber. And you could think coherently again.   
Did Scp 079 let out Shy guy? Did it release more?   
Thoughts consumed your way back, which you vaguely remembered.

No Scp's crossed your path, probably because all of them wanted out and not in. Some walls were tainted with blood. You shook at the sight. Luckily you didn't have to pass the massacre again. How you managed to acquire the keycard, was beyond your imagination. You certainly wouldn't be able to even come near a corpse. Heck, see it.

You took a left and saw the next door you had to pass. But the door didn't open. You furrowed your eyebrows puzzled. There was no place to use the keycard, this should open freely. Was this the wrong door?   
You tried another door. It didn't budge either even though it should open. Your forehead wrinkled in confusion. Did you choose the wrong way and got lost?   
No, that couldn't be, you definitely remembered this way.

Could it be...   
...that the AI was cutting off the escape routes?

You scratched your head. Nevertheless, taking a different route it is then. This door had to get unlocked to proceed taking the escape route. You chose a different path with an uneasy feeling inside your stomach.

Completely new environment unfurled itself with every step you took. You would have never guessed that the facility looked so different around every corner. White walls turned to grey, most light was still intact, you hadn't seen a single corpse laying around... The whole atmosphere was far more... relaxing. It was eerily calming.  
This part of the building was less touched by terror.  
But exactly that was silently freaking you out. Why was it almost peaceful here?

Something caught your attention. A sign which read "surveillance room". Just what you were looking for. Didn't took you long to reach it.

The room was rather small but stuffed with every electronic device imaginable. Screen over screen decorated the walls. You turned towards the computer and sat down. As expected, it was one of the important things that got electricity during an emergency. Luckily, there was no need to type in a password, whether it be an Scp's work or simply because the employee made a run for it as soon as they heard the alarm. After almost falling into deep desperation, you found the right program.

The next problem arrived: which door.  
The containment chambers fell into a different category meaning they were unable to access in the surveillance room. "Who thought it was a good idea to give these doors numbers and not simply show their location on a map?!", you groaned frustrated.

The sound of the door opening reached your ears. You spun around immediately.  
A security guard stood in the doorframe.

"Thank goodness! Another person!", you cried out relieved. "You have no idea how happy I am to know that I am not the only one that survived! You see, I have no idea how to open the door leading to the escape route, maybe you could-"

The guard charged at you growling animalistically, hands outstretched towards your throat.

His movements were sluggish, fortunately easy to dodge and still enough time to smash your hand down onto the keyboard. Unlocking every door on the floor in the process. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake. You dashed out of the room, and ran like a maniac. The guards eyes weren't normal. Cloudy, dull irises combined with lethargic movement like... a corpse.

That could only mean one Scp.

As if on cue, more reanimated corpses appeared in door frames and corridors and tried to attack you, but you were able to evade everything until now. You were struggling to breath properly even though you just started running. Had your constitution gone that bad? A zombie jumped at you, dodging was impossible because of exhaustion. You fell and rolled away into the nearest room, knocking over a chair in the process. With your last remaining energy, you squeezed yourself into a small hole under the desk.

Shuffling footsteps and ragged breathing were the only response. You sat there in complete silence. Only your panting gave away your presence. You covered your mouth with both hands to silence yourself.

Why weren't they searching for you?!  
Their breathing continued but they didn't make a move towards you.

They couldn't be dumb enough to think you escaped, could they?  
You waited some more.

Still no sign of them trying to look for you. A big grin formed on your face. They were really dumb enough to think you escaped! If you waited a little bit longer, they would surely loose interest and scram! You relaxed slightly.

Another pair of footsteps reached your ears.   
"Greetings", a calm voice introduced itself.

Cold shivers ran up and down your spine and your fear came back doubled. There was the Scp responsible for all this madness:  
Scp 049 the plague doctor. And it would definitely not be fooled.

"There is no need to hide, I am here to help.", it announced, with that completely calm tone. You shivered out of raw fear, both hands covering your mouth to silence your rapid breathing. This was awful. You couldn't do anything. It was all up to 049 if it would find you.

"I can hear you breathing", 049 said.

Oh you were so sure he did. If not in a life or death situation, you would even have described its voice as soothing. Right how it reminded you of a predator calming its prey before striking. Its footsteps stopped. As if on cue, the zombies remained silent as well. You held your breath.

"There you are", the calm voice said, and 049 reached your vision.  
As soon as you heard those words, you darted out of your hideout, making a beeline for the door. The zombies caught you before you could even take two steps out of the frame.  
You screamed, kicking and punching at everything that dared to touch you, but they overpowered you easily, there were just _too many_.

They kept a firm hold on you, fixating you in a sitting position. 049 had watched everything as if documenting an experiment. Finally it made its way towards you. Your eyes widened. You knew you had the ring, it made you invincible. But would it really save you?

It stood in front of you.  
Your face was stuck in a terrified expression. Body shaking involuntarily. After all, 049 did the unbelievable as well, killing people by just touching them. You had never seen a report on the effect of 049's lethal touch on somebody wearing the jaded ring.

049 raised its hand towards your head.  
"You- you want to get out, don't you?", you croaked, voice cracking midway.  
"I can help you, I have the keycard and knowledge!", you squeaked, voice cracking midway. Not caring a damn about the consequences. Fear showed the worst of oneself. If surviving meant betraying your kind, so be it.

Its hand didn't stop reaching for your forehead, 049 didn't react to your offer in the slightest.

That's it. Your life would end here. At the young age of (y/a). Images of all kind flashed before your eyes. You had come so far, only to loose it all.

Scp 049's gloved hand almost gently touched your forehead.


	3. Chapter 3

  
Time seemed to stand still. The whole world was holding its breath.  
Nobody was moving. Your body was paralysed on the spot.  
For death itself, the Scps hand sure was warm. You always figured death would feel cold.

Realisation slowly hit your brain.  
You- you... were still alive!

Relief washed over you like a tsunami. You let out the huff air which you had sucked in out of fear. The gesture was almost too volatile to notice. Scp 049 tilted its head slightly to the side. You longed to see that expression of pure confusion on his face. Because of that damned mask, you couldn't see the Scp's emotions, but you were positively sure that even the self proclaimed cure itself, was absolutely baffled right now as to why you where still alive

"Interesting...", 049 murmured, never once turning its head away from you as the hand touching your forehead, slid down towards your cheek. The zombies were still holding you down, otherwise you would have already attempted to escape.

The pressure on your jaw increased, and 049 forcefully turned your head from side to side to examine you. "How do you do that?", it asked, more questioning itself than directly addressing you. Taking a closer at your iris.

This was the time to act, there was a chance the Scp would figure out what was preventing it from killing you. "Let me go. You can't kill me. I am of no use to you.", you said, hoping to sound as confident as you hoped yourself to be.

The examination stopped.  
"What makes you think that you are of no use?", he chuckled. "You are the first human being to be immune. It... makes me curious as to why you are able to."

You swallowed down the lump forming in your throat. This didn't go as expected, quick, come up with better arguments!

"Don't be afraid, I am here to help you. But first, I have to find out what differentiates you from the other humans." Suddenly 049 had a scalpel in one hand.  
You panicked.  
Would you feel pain if you were cut open?! It was one of the things definitely not worth finding out! "You will never get out and you are going to be stuck here forever just like the rest, if you kill me now!", you yelled.

"What makes you so sure about that? I can easily take your keycard and leave."

You scraped all the remaining courage together, and banned the panicking part of yourself into the farthest corner of your being. A stern expression formed on your face. "Do you even know where to go exactly? Other Scp's broke out as well. It will be difficult to avoid these if you don't know which is contained where and what its anomalies are. Lastly the exit. Only accessible through a keycard of master level AND the presence of a human."  
The last part was a huge lie, human presence wasn't required, but it surely was the most convincing sounding.

Silence greeted your small speech. Was 049 buying it?  
It was awful not knowing what was going on inside that creature without having a face to read expressions from. The reanimated corpses shifted, forcing you to get up, so you were standing right before the plague doctor who was almost a head taller than you. Your serious charade was dangerously close to crumbling into tiny pieces.

Finally after a stare down, 049 broke the deafening silence. "You are the same as all the others. As soon as they are cornered, they spill. Begging for their lives, even betraying their own friends."  
It paused for a while. Your heart beat rapidly in your chest.  
"But there is this one look of determination that makes you different. Your defying of my cure that I have yet to find out. I find that intriguing." With elegance, it caressed the dull side of the scalpel.

"Let us say, I consider your offer for a while, until I discover a method to... help you."  
The Scp extended its hand for you to shake it. Goosebumps send unpleasant sensations down your spine. This was probably the closest thing you would get for a peace treaty. Take the chance.

"Deal."  
With serious second thoughts, you shook the gloved hand of the Scp.

"A green ring, what a rarity.", it remarked before you pulled away hastily.  
Did the Scp already suspect something?

The plague doctor left the room without checking if you were following, its subordinates simply dragged your unwilling self along. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bare with me a little longer, at least Chapter 8 if the pronouns are bothering you that much. Anyways, thank you so much for reading this far! The story has officially begun now...


	4. Chapter 4

  
Scp 049 took the lead, arms neatly folded behind its back. Its subordinates spread out and vanished out of your sight, two remaining close by your side. A sickly sweet scent tickled your nose challenging you to look at the reanimated corpses flanking you.

At least they looked kind of normal if you ignored their behaviour. Furthermore, the reports said they were extremely hostile attacking every human in range, so why were they "friendly" now? Was Scp 049 able to control them fully?

Your gaze shifted to 049. Completely clad in black, its silvery plague doctor mask sticking out of its otherwise black appearance. The Scp responsible for all these horrific creatures and almost for your own death.

And you were helping it escape.

Speaking of which...

"We-", your voice sounded incredibly hoarse. You hoped it didn't notice your squeaky first attempt. After clearing your throat you tried again, this time more confident.   
"We need to take a left."

The Scp hummed in response, a nice soothing noise in contrast to your guards rattling breathing mixed with your own. Your group passed the corner you were supposed to turn to. Confusion overtook your face. You pondered about repeating your sentence but stopped dead in tracks when you saw it.

When you saw the person.

The man laid on the floor covered in his own pool of blood, slowly bleeding to death. Empty eyes looked at the ceiling, he gave up a long time ago to cry out for help.   
You trembled. That could have been you. Shot and left to die. You shook the feeling of wanting to run away off and rushed to the person's side.

"A..." Are you alright? Was the first thing you could think of, but he obviously wasn't. Next try. "Where does it hurt?", you asked in a soft voice, surprising yourself with the sudden courage.

His eyes searched for the person that the voice belonged to. As soon as he saw you, his body relaxed and he opened his mouth, but nothing other than a croak and blood escaped his lips. You ripped a piece of fabric off of his already torn clothes and pressed it on the wound. He coughed and winced in pain. The material was quickly soaked in red fluid. What else could you do? Come on think, there has to be something!

Someone gently pushed your hands away.   
"Anemia.", 049 stated.

"Help him, aren't you a doctor?", you yelled desperately.

"He already lost too much blood. His body can not suffice enough oxygen, damaging internal organs in the process. He will suffocate slowly. All I can do is end his suffering."

"But...", you didn't know what to reply. You could only watch as it reached out for the poor man's forehead to use its lethal touch. "Everything will be better now.", the Scp murmured reassuringly.

You couldn't watch the scene and turned your head away. 049 was a doctor after all, and knew more than you. At least it sounded like that as it stated the wounded's condition. Was there really no other way than euthanasia?

A familiar scent reached your nose. The name was on the tip of your tongue, but you just couldn't grasp it, so you took another sniff. "Lavender.", the Scp explained and spun a small branch between index finger and thumb. You took the herb from its hand. What a nice scent.

049 slit the dead persons torso open with a scalpel.

"What the HELL?! Stop that!", you shrieked horrified. 049 already began dissecting the dead guy. Blood stained its gloves slightly. Most of it had already poured out.

"I thought you wanted to stop his pain!"   
The blood.   
It didn't bother you a few seconds ago, but now... the whole scene creeped you out. A distant image from the 096 incident appeared in your head.

_Dead people everywhere._   
_Red crimson liquid._   
_So much blood._

You shuffled backwards until your back hit the wall and quickly pulled your legs to your chest.

_Clouded empty eyes._   
_Starring into nothing._   
_Face contorted into masks of pain and terror._

You hugged yourself tightly. Footsteps approached your hunched over form.   
"Your helper instincts nullified your fear of blood. You really are a strange individual.", 049 said, crouching down to you.

"You're... horrible...!", you whispered.   
A sad chuckle escaped its mouth.   
"I may be. I cure all these people even though nobody appreciates my hard work for humanity. Not everyone understands the importance of exterminating the great pestilence. Including you." The Scp sounded sorrowful.

"But I am not the only one carrying such a burden. Aren't your fellow scientists the same?   
Locking up lifeforms they do not comprehend, using them as test subjects and justifying themselves by declaring these newly named Scp's non-human."

You lifted your head to look at the Scp.   
"I guess that lies in the eye of the beholder." , 049 said softly.

"They don't kill in contrast to you.", you whispered.

"Did you forget the humans they use for science?"

Humans? Oh. It meant the D-class. Death sentenced criminals that were transferred to the Scp facility.   
"But they are proven death sentence anyway...", your voice faltered.

These people were used without asking them for permission. Experimenting on unknown creatures was one thing, but experimenting on your own kind was just messed up. Furthermore there were rumours that people who were witnesses in Scp incidents were abducted and classified as D-classes as well.

"So a person declared "dead" is less of a human being?"

You didn't know what to respond. Silence.

"I am not saying that all individuals kept in this facility are innocent, but not every monster is locked up."

He stood up and resumed his work. Leaving you alone with your wild thoughts about how messed up some things here where.

The D-class being treated as if they were worth nothing just to gather data. You would definitely not want to switch places with them. And if the rumours about witnesses being abducted turned out to be true? That would just be messed up. Extremely messed up.

Some Scp's were even human. Did they have a life before coming to this facility? Family? You looked over to the plague doctor. How was Scp 049's life like before being captured?

All these confusing and terrifying thoughts gave you a headache. You buried your face in your arms. 


	5. Chapter 5

The newest member of your weird troop had joined the scouting staff. You watched him disappear down the hall. There was still a lot on your mind, this latest creation ranking pretty high right after the plague doctors little speech.

Nevertheless one of your top priorities now was to upgrade your keycard. It was only level 4. It would suffice for now, but once you reached the exit, you would need one of the highest authority. That's why you were paying Scp 914, the clockwork machine, a quick visit.

It looked as complicated as ever as you entered its chamber. Scp 049 stepped closer to take a look at the machinery. You smiled weakly at the sight. Your constitution had worsened over time, especially since you hadn't gotten a chance to rest after the gunshot. You were incredibly tired.

But that wasn't important right now. You took out your keycard hesitantly. If this failed, you had to go search for a new one. You had read some reports about Scp 914 and knew that the rough setting would mostly convert items to decal. So you set the switch to 1:1 to play it safe. Out came a... playing card? You looked at it dumbfoundedly.

Scp 049 came over to watch you repeat the process. Its presence made you uneasy but to your surprise, it didn't freak you out as much as it did before. The next setting you tried out was Fine. Out came a level 2 keycard. A determined expression settled on your face. This was it. 

"Interesting... this machine gives you an upgrade of the item you put in?", it asked. You flinched at its proximity, clutching your ring finger with the jaded ring on. The object calmed you down.

"Well... yes and no. It's not always an upgrade. Sometimes it can be something entirely different or just garbage." You used the same settings and waited eagerly for the outcome. The keycard was one level higher. Fuelled by accomplishment, you continued talking while levelling your keycard up one at a time.

"For example there have been experiments conducted on steel. Out came a bunch of screws. Somebody put in a wristwatch on coarse, and got it back completely disassembled."

Your words had made the Scp curious.  
"Have there ever been reports about... biological experiments?"

You pondered for a few seconds, taking the new keycard out and putting it back into the input chamber. "They experimented on mice I believe. They tested a white one on 1:1, a brown one was the result. And they put in a chimp on the rough setting. Out came a mutilated corpse." You sneered at the thought of these poor animals being mistreated.

"The weirdest thing that happened though, was when they put in a human. He was of Caucasian ethnicity and came out as a male Hispanic with almost the same height and weight but completely disoriented."

It listened intently. After finally getting your master keycard, you flopped down on a swivel chair you had just noticed, feeling accomplished. "The outcome can't be predicted, so simply experimenting has been the go to about this thing. ", you ended, thankful for a few minutes of sitting down.

Seemingly encouraged by your words, the plague doctor turned towards the machine. You watched the Scp experiment for a while. It strangely felt like old times when you were allowed to protocol experiments sometimes or be a third party watcher. It didn't happen often though anymore.

After getting bored of using office stuff laying around, it tried using a reanimated corpse. The result was nothing noticeable, probably an ethnicity change just like the alredy conducted experiment, but not as drastic as to see a skin colour change. Your eyes opened slower every time you pried them open again. Somewhere in between you must had dozen off. 

Seemingly satisfied with the results, the plague doctor shifted its attention back to you. "We should find a place to rest." 

You jerked awake, jumping onto your feet.   
"There's still a lot to walk.", you protested. Sleeping while Scp 049 was around? Out of the question. Who knew what it would do while you were out. 

"Tomorrow is another day. You are tired and need to rest. In this state you are only a hindrance.", it reasoned. You grimaced but didn't find a good argument against its. You were incredibly tired. Then the Scp added quieter, speaking to itself rather than to you directly. "And I need to write down the results I gathered." 

Finding a proper place wasn't hard. The offices in this floor were huge and had doors so you didn't need to sleep in the open. The plague doctor threw a pillow towards you that you weren't able to catch in time. Sleep was indeed needed. 

You settled on the floor in the corner, cautious about having a good view at Scp 049. It took a seat at the desk and started writing. The scraping of the pen against paper was oddly satisfying. You observed it for a while, watching every movement it did. Your eyelids grew heavy against your will. The Scp hummed a tune while flipping a page. You liked that sound. It was calming. 

There wasn't much more needed to make you drift off to sleep.

You were running. Scp 096 was close. Its scream echoed throughout the building. Slashed open corpses extended their hands towards you, their faces displaying agony. One of them succeeded making you trip. 096's stomps came closer and...

...You jolted awake to someone gently shaking your shoulder. You blinked heavily to get the last remaining instances of the nightmare out of your brain, still panting heavily. So much for refreshing sleep. You felt worse than before.

The first thing you noticed was a white lab coat that had been draped over you while you were asleep. The second thing was Scp 049 right in front of you.

"We need to leave.", it said.

"What happened?", you asked drowsily, but still wary of the sudden change of tone.

"Something or someone let cured ones disappear."

"Who?" You were suddenly wide awake.

"I would rather not find out."


	6. Chapter 6

  
049 stayed deadly silent as you both left the area. You were creeped out by the deafening silence accompanying you with every step. The calm before the storm. You had figured that there could only be an Scp responsible for letting these "cured ones" disappear. What else could simply stop a being from existing other than an anomaly itself?

Not even the Scp's were safe from each other. You thought they would simply ignore each other since they were the same kind with the same goal. But in reality, no. They weren't the same kind.They may be classified as the same, but every one of them was as different as day and night. The only thing that connected them was the hate of being locked up.

"Another.", 049 muttered to itself.

"Any information about its looks or powers?", you chimed in. The fear of this new threat had lessened your fear of the plague doctor. For the moment. In the end, both of you just wanted to escape.

Keeping up with these paranormal beings was almost impossible in a fight, but you could at least share the knowledge you gathered throughout your highly under paid job.   
As you were applying, breakouts were only said to be of minor occurrence and handled by the staff immediately without any deaths. Of course that was mentioned in the small print.

Well that proofed to be a huge ass lie.   
Huh. Why did you decide to remain in this life threatening job again?

"It is able to make cured ones disappear.", 049 said.

Making things disappear? A lot of Scp's had powers similiar to that...

"I guess we are safer in corridors that are not connected with other ones to prevent getting ambushed.", Scp 049 concluded.

What the Scp said sounded logical. But there was still a growing suspicion that you committed a fatal mistake. You frowned. "I'm not so sure about that, I just want to get away from here as soon as possible."   
049 hummed in response. 

"These walls are suffocating me.", you mumbled. You had been walking for a while, your constitution worsening. It was as if you were hiking in the highest place of a mountain. Every inhale of air was becoming more and more difficult.

"Your breathing is becoming quite unusual for a person in your shape. Is there something affecting your health negatively?", 049 asked.

You furrowed your brows. Affecting your health negatively? The ring took care of all that stuff, so no. What confused you more was its tone.   
Did it... care?   
No, it was probably bothered that you slowed everyone down.

"I'm just... on edge.", you replied.

Scp 049 actually pondered about your statement. "The incidents are occurring far away, there is no need to worry right now."

Was that an attempt to calm you down? The churning in your stomach certainly didn't stop. "If the Scp is who I think it is, we will not be save anywhere."

You noticed it stiffening at the word Scp.   
"I... do not comprehend what you are implying.", 049 said.

As you were thinking heavily, your eyes began to focus on a small dot on the wall subconsciously. "There is this one specimen able to use pocket dimensions to let its victims disappear without a trace except an orange-brown coloured substance."

Your companion seemed deep in thoughts. "From what I have gathered throughout your words is that it would only affect us if it would be in our reach. There are a lot of walls between us and the anomaly."

Your eyes widened at what you saw. The dot grew.   
"You don't understand, it can phase through walls!"

The circle on the wall grew bigger and bigger, destroying the material as if it was nothing. A strange brownish substance dripped out of the corroded wall. Then a hand reached through the solid mass, the body soon followed. Everything about this creature was covered in that brownish liquid and slowly rotting away. A big grin formed on it's deformed face.

Scp 106 had arrived.

049 yanked you away seconds before a portal appeared under your feet.   
" _Run_."

You stumbled after your ally, taking a quick glance behind you. Scp 106 watched you two, then fell through the ground, vanishing out of your sight.

Since when have you become so unsporty?! You were just running for a minute and already dying because of side stitches. Moreover, how was 049 able to look like it was just going for walk while running away from a life threatening situation?!

106's corrosive substance dripped from the ceiling, announcing its following appearance. The three remaining reanimated corpses lunged at the Scp. They would win some time for you, but that's about it. The ring would be able to make you survive in 106's pocket dimensions, but would it be able to keep you fed and hydrated?

Suddenly, something made click inside your head.   
"The... emergency protocol!"

"What are you implying?", came the direct answer.

"We can capture 106 via the emergency protocol!", you coughed, barely able to continue this any longer. With your last remaining strength, you led the way.

Your lungs were about to collapse as you came to an abrupt halt in front of your destination. You managed to retrieve the keycard out of your pocket with shaky hands, but missed the touchpad. 049 nudged your arm into the right direction and immediately entered once the door opened.

Panting heavily, you began to follow it inside, still trying to get oxygen into your exhausted, trembling body. The Scp certainly seemed to manage on its own and inspected the different buttons and inscriptions, so you concentrated on recovery.

Inhale and then exhale.   
Good. The stinging pain in your chest felt survivable now. You stumbled forward almost falling over your own feet, and turned the security camera screen on.

It was hard to make out what exactly was shown, since the screen was pixelated in black and white. Was it that difficult to get HD observation cameras?   
Something moved in the bottom right corner. Better act fast.

"This one.", you instructed, index finger hovering over the button. The voice of a scientist immediately filled your head and you spoke in unison with her.

"To attract it. A decoy will be placed for 106."

As you pressed the button, a nasty crunch echoed through the walls. Milliseconds later screams followed. Shocked, you whipped your head to the camera screen.

The unrecognisable dot fell over and revealed itself. Crying and screaming in pain at the top of his lungs, a human clutched his broken appendage.   
That scream wasn't just a scream of hurt when somebody fell and scraped their knee.   
This was a scream of absolute terror, a high pitched animalistic screech of fear, of a person that knew of their impending fate. You staggered back, tears pricked at the corners of your eyes. Desperately trying to gasp for air, terrified of what you had done.

"I...I-...!"   
Black dots framed your vision. Your breathing quickened rapidly. They never said anything about a human decoy!

049 grabbed your arm. "What next?", it asked.

 _What have I done?!_   
Your brain didn't function well enough to speak, but the Scp magically found the right button through your weak gesture.

_Air_

As soon as 049 let go of your arm, the last thing keeping you balanced left.   
The floor swayed under your feet.   
You had _killed_ someone.

_**Air** _

You fell.   
Arms caught you. "Breath slowly and steadily", 049 voice was as calm as ever, but far, far away.

Strange choking noises reached your ears.   
Was that you?

The dots continued to multiply and restricted your vision.

More words.

Your body was being moved.

Cold air touched your skin.

Someone patted your cheek repeatedly.

And then, everything went black.   
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Sleep welcomed you with wide open arms. During the whole time the containment breach happened you didn't have any time to rest. Nightmares plagued your dreams, but luckily this one wasn't as bad as the ones before. Shifting slightly to access a more comfortable position, you tried to roll over, but there was nothing to roll on. Your eyes practically burst open.

The face of a reanimated corpse carrying you bombarded your peripheral vision. Too much to handle right now. You screamed.   
It was more out of surprise than actual fear.

049 rushed into your field of vision.  
"Are you still feeling pain?", it asked with a hint of... you weren't sure exactly.

Ok, what happened while you fainted.  
"Ah! No I'm fine. Well not really..." You frowned. Something was trying to resurface, but as soon as you tried to grasp the memory, it went out of your reach. Wait, you had fainted... What happened? All you could remember was... running? From something...

You tried remembering harder, but all you got in return was a headache. You growled, growing frustrated. "Doesn't matter! How could you let this THING carry me?!", your voice came out hoarse despite you wanting to scream your words.

"It is a him actually.", 049 corrected.

You sighed, deeply annoyed. "Want to enlighten me who else is male here so I can enunciate myself correctly?"

"I thought that was obvious due to the urge to document everything in this facility."

To your defence, the thought already crossed your mind, but since 049 was addressed as an "it" in countless reports you had thrown that theory away. 

"What are you doing?", it asked.  
"What does it look like? I'm trying to get up.", you said and struggled out of the reanimated corpses hold, grimacing at the sharp tingling sensation of pain. It shot as waves through your body, starting from your side to every nerve fiber.

"Stop that.", it commanded. "You are not fully healed in the slightest."   
You ignored his orders. 

"Would you prefer me carrying you instead, since you do not seem fond of cured ones?"

"No! I would prefer no one carrying me!", you squeaked and continued to wiggle out. Ow, moving hurt.

"You will fall.", the plague doctor warned.

"What are you, my mom? I know what I can do.", you shot back and finally escaped the cold grasp.

Just as your feet touched the ground, your legs buckled just as it had predicted. Pain rushed through every part of your body, making it impossible to stand, let alone walk.

049 had already anticipated the outcome and professionally scooped you up in its arms. "No, I am your doctor. Next time listen to what i say."

You grumbled something incoherent and looked the other way. Being carried by that dead person seemed way more appealing than this embarrassment.

"No walking until I say so.", 049 ordered. "Now that you are finally awake... Care to explain why you did not tell me that you were shot?" 

What a brilliant way to ruin the mood instantly. "I was fine on my own, I took care of all that.", you shot back, crossing your arms.

"You did not even properly clean the wound. Did you know that most people die of an infection rather than the actual wound itself?"

"Literally did not have time for that, because at that time I had other important things to attend to. Like trying not to get ripped into shreds!"

"You could have ended just like that person you tried to save before. Thank your body for fainting before you could force yourself to walk any further towards your death."

You were full on angry now.  
"Well, I am sorry that everything in here I come across tries to kill me, including you, which resulted in me not trusting anything nor anybody except myself!" 

Your words echoed through the hallway. The Scp's grip tightened.  
Only the sound of your heavy breathing disturbed the sudden silence.

The impact of your words dawned on you. How did you dare to speak in such a way to a dangerous Scp? 049 was probably already thinking about killing you.

"I didn't mean to..."  
You didn't end that sentence. It would have been a lie anyway just to pacify. Why even try anymore. Face the truth. You were destined to die, right here, right now.

Silence. Oh this deafening silence would kill you if the plague doctor didn't first.

The plague doctors grip softened.  
"We did have a rough start.", it finally decided to speak, emphasizing each word carefully. Closing your eyes, you braced yourself for its next final words, and then your impending death.

"How about we start anew?"

 _What...?_  
You stared at 049 with big round eyes.

He cleared his throat.   
"Good day Miss (y/ln). It is a pleasure to meet you. There is not much to say about myself you probably do not already know. Nevertheless feel free to ask."

Your head felt dizzy, as if somebody exchanged cotton with your brain. What was going on right now? Were you dead already?

"How do you know my name?", eventually left your lips weakly.

"You literally run around with a name tag."

"Oh.", was all you made.   
Then. "Please just call me (y/n)."

Was this all just a dream? A casual conversation with the plague doctor himself sounded impossible mere seconds ago. But here you are.

"(Y/n)...", he repeated slowly as to make sure he pronounced your name right.   
Your face flushed red at the sound of your name combined with his velvet voice. It sounded too good. Nope, there's no way this is real. You were close to if not already dead. A goofy grin spread across your face. Why not make the best of this near death experience.

"There's actually something I need to know!", you exclaimed. Sudden strange euphoria clouded your already fuzzy mind. He gave a hum as a response.

"What’s your accent", you blurted out.

"Ah..." For once you caught 049 off guard. Silence for a few seconds, then he started again.  
"Well... I am from France and have travelled quite a lot to research a cure for the disease. I resided in Great Britain for a long time until I was, well... taken. So one of them I would guess."

"You're french?!"

"Does it surprise you that much?"  
You ignored his question.

"Could you say something in french?"

"Pourriez-vous dire quelque chose en français?", he answered smoothly.

His deep velvety voice sounded absolutely delicious when he spoke in his native language. It was as if you had discovered a whole new part of him. 

"I need... more.", you gasped. You almost felt cheated. Only now you were getting to hear such an exotic voice.

"J'ai besoin de plus.", he chuckled.

A way to excited inhale on your part lead you towards a coughing fit.   
_Oh gosh what is wrong with me_

"Are you alright?", 049 asked, eyes mirroring the concern in his voice.  
Your head felt dizzy and your thoughts ran slowly as if they were coated in honey.

"I did not know you have eyes", you slurred in complete awe. 

"I am sorry?"

"And I've never seen such a dark eye colour!", your words came out sluggish.

Even though he was giving you the utmost confused look you had ever seen in your life, you couldn't help but stare. His dark brown, almost black eyes, had something mysterious to them, partially because you almost couldn't tell apart pupil and iris. You leaned forward to get a better view. They were hypnotizing, like a black hole.

049 broke eye contact first. "You need to calm down."

You inhaled sharply. "I am fine!", you whined. "Just let me-" 

He set you down on the nearest table. "Calm down. Your adrenalin level is high which causes these moods wings, but that will diminish soon, so rest."

He removed your hands from his face.   
"And keep your hands to yourself." 

You reached out again. "I have no idea what you just said."

He pushed your hands back. "Let me rephrase that so even you understand it:  
You're high on your own body’s hormone painkillers."

Despite his easier explanation, your brain still needed time to process what he just said. You giggled. Sleep sounded nice. Did he say something about sleeping?

"AHH, what are you doing?!", you shrieked and swatted his hands away while blushing madly out of both embarrassment and anger.

"Checking on your injuries. You seem a little too off.", 049 stated and continued to lift your shirt up.

"Are you kidding me, your telling me to keep my hands to myself, but you are suddenly allowed to molest-"

It was then that you noticed the small red circle that began to form on the bandaged fabric. "...Me."

_Blood._  
_Cold lifeless eyes._  
_Death everywhere._

The memories your brain supressed resurfaced violently. A wave of emotions crashed over you, as images involuntarily invaded your head. Images from the 096-incident. Screams. You had killed someone.   
You whimpered   
"Make it stop..." 

"I would have already if you did not interrupt me..." His voice faltered towards the end as he noticed your trembling body.

"What is the matter?" 049 asked gently.

"Nothing, I'm... just-", you closed your mouth. Tears pricked at the corner of your eyes. A lump forming in your throat made it impossible to continue talking normally. Stupid adrenalin making you vulnerable and emotional. Your voice was incredibly coarse when you answered. "I'm okay."

He wiped away a tear that had escaped against your will, gently brushing against your skin. "It has been rough for you, has it not?"  
His voice sounded so incredibly soft.

The last straw broke that kept everything crumped up inside.  
You burst into tears, hiding your face inside your palms. 049 didn't flinch in the slightest at your sudden outburst. Being a former doctor probably helped.

"Let it all out, it will make you feel better.", he stated matter of factly, patting your shoulder. You let out a loud sob and lunged forward, holding onto him for comfort while you cried against his chest. He stiffened upon contact immediately. His demeanour of professionalism poofed away.

Between sobs, you managed to form words. "I have seen people die in front of my eyes... So much blood..." Tears fell harder. "I- I killed someone!"   
You continued to cry against his chest, weeping heartbreakingly. Unusually timid, he lifted his arms to encircle your small frame and hugged you back.

"You did not kill him. He was injured slightly.", he clarified gently. But you were already lost in tears and guilt. He hugged you tighter, muffling your sobs in his clothes. "It is in the past...", he murmured, caressing your back soothingly while whispering reassurances in your ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally this chapter has been published! This one was probably the hardest to write since it's the key element in the beginning of a new relationship, so I had to rework it quite a lot. Especially since 049 is french now? I swear he was british the last time I read his entry...


	8. Chapter 8

  
A similar dream like last time. You were getting chased you down the hallway. You watched a scientist getting killed right behind you. You could feel the creatures breath hit your neck. A way too familiar scream filled in the silence only broken by your footsteps and ragged breathing of the creature.

You awoke with a start eyes darting around frantically. Bright light attacked your vision, making you regret that immediately. The already existing headache wasn't pleased either.

"I am sorry, did I wake you up?", 049 asked.

Still blinded from the light, you vaguely turned towards the direction you assumed his voice came from. He sat in a chair next to you, an old looking book in one hand and a pen in the other. It was obvious that you had interrupted him from scribbling down notes.

"No, not really.", you answered and suppressed the need to yawn.   
But quickly sobered up after remembering the last few hours. Crying and acting like the last idiot. Hot shame crawled up your back. You dared to take a peek at 049.

He was watching you intently. You quickly averted eye contact sheepishly and glanced at his book.  
"Oh wow, I can't read that." You said to change the subject quickly.

He chuckled. "I have to admit, my handwriting is very ornate."

You (un)successfully lifted a brow. Actually you were referring to the language used, which did not look like anything you knew. With a shrug, you leaned back and stretched. "Ouch!" Bad idea. Your side sent waves of pain down your body. A feeling you had almost forgotten that existed because of... The ring!

"Please refrain doing that for obvious reasons.", 049 uttered in an almost mechanical tone. He had said those words to a lot of patients.

But the advice didn't even have a chance to reach your brain. Eyes darting around the room in panic to look for any trace of the lost item, you began checking every pocket on your clothes. A sudden clap sound made you jump visibly.

049 had closed the book to get your attention after failed attempts. "May I help you in whatever you are doing?"

"Ah! No, no, don't worry!", a desperate smile crept on your face. "I'm just itching to continue walking!" As if the smile wasn't a stretch already, a forced laugh escaped your lips. You couldn't even see half of his face, but you just knew he was lifting one eyebrow.

Before even giving him a chance to react, you had already slid of the table to stand up, ignoring the protests of your body. Listening for once would have been the smarter choice, since your legs were still incredibly weak, making it quite hard to walk in a straight line. A hand on the wall to balance out your non existing strength, finally got 049 to take action. 

"Not so fast.", he declared, extending his hands to help you walk, but you evaded last second without a trace of grace. He sighed, visibly annoyed. "Stop acting ridiculous."

If trying to survive from death was ridiculous to him, so be it.  
"I don't care!"

"Stop resisting", he growled.

"Stop using your killer phrase!", you screeched, backing away from his approaching form.

After a lot of back and forth, you got cornered against the wall by 049.  
"Please don't touch me.", you pleaded, as he approached further.

It worked, the plague doctor stopped.  
"Will you tell me now what is going on?"

You creeped towards a gap, but 049 closed it immediately. He exhaled rather dramatically and wringed his hands, but stopped once he noticed your warily gaze. Out of instinct, your hand scurried to your finger were the jaded ring was supposed to be. Dark eyes observed your reaction.

"Does this have something to do with your behaviour?", he asked and opened his hand to reveal _the_ ring. Mouth shut tight, you successfully remained silent but your intense stare gave you away anyways.

"So a no it is then?", he affirmed with a low chuckle.  
Two options. Try to be faster and snatch the ring from him and possibly die by contact or try to get the desired item through words.

A small smile formed on your features. "Would you kindly return the ring to me? It holds a dear place in my heart, since it is a family heirloom."

"You really have a thing for stuff that can kill you.", he remarked and studied the object closer. 

"What do you mean, it's just a simple ring.", you laughed. Internally, you weren't that calm. What did he know?

"There is no need to pretend." He looked at you. "I have noticed some weird symptoms concerning you. Inability to sprint, shortness of breath, pale skin...", he continued to count down the symptoms on his finger. "... and obviously the bandage. Once you fainted, I was affirmed of my suspicion that you had lost a lot of blood. You were shot sometime before we met. But why didn't you show any kind of pain symptoms?"

You extended your hand with a dead serious expression commanding him to give you the ring. He followed your example but continued further towards your face.  
"From what I have gathered, this ring nullifies your ability to feel pain."  
His fingers ghosted over your skin, wary of not actually touching it.

"Pain is important. It lets you know there is something wrong with your body. So others can help..." His voice sent shivers down your spine, making it hard to stand still. "I can not let someone die, I am a doctor after all. We swore an oath to help those in need."   
You didn't dare to move, his hand was already way too close to your face.  
"You have learned through the hard way that **my** methods are the most effective in contrast to this rings."  
One wrong move and everything was over. You braced yourself.

He booped your nose.  
"Trust me for once."

And with that this whole situation took a 180 turn.

"Wha- what?", you stuttered and a huge blush crept onto your face.

"Would it not be rather unfortunate to kill everything I touch?", he chuckled and used your confusion to place a hand next to your waist to balance your missing walking abilities out. 

"Ah....", you stammered flustered. "Of- of course."  
Going along with accepting the extra help he offered, still red like a tomato. He... What WAS that just know? Was that his idea of a joke?!

049 guided you towards the door, adjusting to your slow pace. Every step sent an earthquake of pain throughout your body. Walking wasn't as easy as you'd hoped, so you clung to him for dear life.

"See? I trust you. May I get the ring back? NOW?", you pleaded, already annoyed at walking slow motion and the metaphorical sharp knives stabbing the wound with every step. Getting out of this hellhole would take ages!

"Are you serious? This ring is partly responsible for almost making you die and you still want that item back?"

"The ring isn't responsible! It was one of...! The guards that...", you trailed off, your voice becoming unusually hoarse towards the end alarming the other.

049 stopped to tap your chin upwards with his index finger to face him.   
"I do not want you to get hurt any further.", he said sincerely. Warmth crawled up your cheeks. His eyes looked so genuine. You quickly averted eye contact. His thumb brushed over your cheek.

"Besides, do not worry, my ways are the most effective." He patted your head reassuringly.   
You mentally face palmed. Of course. Some things may never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for putting my head canon in there, some are probably bothered by that, but it makes more sense for this story. And kind of in general? For example imagine 049 petting a dog and it straight up dies without him wanting it. Would plants die as well? Oh well, we may never know.  
> And thank you so much for the amount of attention this fanfiction has gotten! I am grateful for every single one of you that takes time of their day to read this.


	9. Chapter 9

"That is enough distance for now.", 049 said. You were as pale as the sterile walls from walking. You figured it wouldn't make that much of a difference between wearing the ring or not. Turns out you HEAVILY underestimated its abilities. 049 practically carried you towards the nearest table. He didn't look that strong but still managed to heave you up the table easily. 

"I... I don't feel so good.", you sputtered out. 

"I can see that as clear as day.", he said sympathetically. "You should have said something sooner..." His hand touched your forehead. How did he want to test your temperature with gloves on? 

"I would like to have a look at your injury."

"Uh, sure.", you replied. 

He made a move but had a change of mind before taking action.  
"Would you please lift your shirt?"

You did as you were told, risking a glance at the injury. No blood had seeped through. The bandage was a pearly white colour. "May I?", 049 asked, hands hovering over the bandage.

You nodded, confused in a positive way about the ongoing questions for reassurance.  
In a matter of seconds he began to unfasten the bandage. His arms closed around your waist whenever he switched the gauze between his hands. He was deeply focused on the task. In contrast to you who was glancing around awkwardly since he had to stand in between your legs to reach the wound. For the first time you were glad that no one else except you two were here. 

Watching somebody exactly knowing what to do was fascinating. Plague obsession or not, he was still a highly capable doctor.

"I advice you not to look now."  
049 had reached the last layer, stopping before removing it. The last part was slightly drenched in blood. The amount of it wasn't much. Nevertheless, you didn't need to test your endurance. You took the time to study 049 in the meantime.

Nothing much had changed about his appearance. The same plague doctor uniform as always. Still, there was something off about him, even though you couldn't see it with the bare eye. He had been overly solicitous of you and less straight forward today. That was unlike of what you were used to.

The last wrapping lifted. Air against the exposed skin felt weird after all this time.  
His touch was gentle, but you still flinched.  
"Sorry", he muttered. His fingers brushed over the sensitive skin leaving a pleasant trail of tingling sensations, a welcoming alternative to the painful throb. You closed your eyes, relaxing under the feeling. He always smelled so nice of lavender...

"I apologize."   
The words were barely above a whisper. So faint that you had almost believed you had imagined them.

"No need to apologize for my jumpiness.", you waved off and opened your eyes only to stop dead in tracks as you got a look at him.

Sadness filled 049's eyes as he gazed down at your injury. It was a rare moment to see him like this. His emotions getting the better of him. You almost felt out of place.

You jumped to action immediately.  
"You already know the story. This was caused by an MTF soldier way before I met you. Wrong place wrong time, an accident on their side."

A composed look quickly replaced the previous expression. All traces of that short vulnerable moment of him vanished. He remained silent and started to wrap a new bandage around your torso.

You spoke up again, much, much softer. "Hey... this is not your fault."

Bullseye.  
He pulled the wrapping a little too tight.  
You winced. He froze right away.  
Your assumption proved to be correct.

049 let out a weary sigh and placed his hands on either side of you on the table. 

"You can talk to me.", you whispered.

Finally his eyes rose to meet yours. Time seemed to slow down as yours meet his dark ones, even though he pulled away in a matter of seconds. Nevertheless long enough to see the guilt ridden expression in them. "This would have never happened if I had paid attention to you."

"This is not your fault.", you said, hoping to ease his mind. "Stop wearing yourself down over such trivial things."

It effected the opposite of assuring.

"Trivial?", he flared up. "(Y/n), we are talking about your _life_! I neglected your well being and let this spiral into you getting hurt further!"

You were taken aback by the intensity.  
"You didn't neglect my well being! If anything it was me that was too dumb to know about the severity."

"You saw the blood yourself. If I would behave like a trustworthy person, you would have told me. You would not have been this injured."

"I thought it was gonna be fine! It had bled a lot more before that, I assure you. There was just so much going on, I couldn't even think rational! I trust you now."

"Then why did you not tell me that you could not walk any further just now?", he asked quietly.

"I..."  
You were at loss for words. 

049 took that as an answer and stood up straight. "See? I am not trustworthy."  
His tone was matter of fact. But his demeanour told otherwise. He avoided eye contact, focusing on a point high above you. "This is the cause of the problem I am at fault for." 

Oh.  
So this was what all that was about.  
Your heart ached.  
He was convinced you didn't trust him. Because you hadn't told him about your pain. Who knew that keeping pain to yourself could hurt others just as much?

You clenched your fists.  
"I would have _died_ without you! Can't you see that?!", you cried out.

Still, he refused to look at you directly.

"Stop talking like this! You saved me! You could have done god knows what while I was knocked out, but you took care of my injury! You didn't kill me while you had the chance and still don't kill me now! So stop this nonsense and see yourself from my point of view!" 

You were surprised yourself about what you were saying right now. But saying these words out loud made you realize that it was true. You had a rocky start, yet after you fainting, things had changed. You had started over, and you had seen a different side of him. Not the intimidating plague doctor, but 049. And you liked that.

"But if I had-", he spoke up again, but you interrupted him before he could finish.

"If I did this, if I did that. If, if, if. It's always if! It already HAPPENED. We can't change time." Your eyes were starting to sting again. It was a normal impulse to be upset about a friend still feeling guilty about something they weren't even at fault for. Only you could ease that guilt. 

Taking a deep breath, you continued. "I'm here and you're here. Safe and sound. Now. Trust me in this when I say I trust you.", you said much calmer and took his hand into yours. It was a small gesture of condolences but in actuality it was so much more than that. It was a proof of trust. As expected the touch didn't kill you. An unreadable expression was evident in 049's eyes.

"Starting a new means starting a new.", you added, giving his hand a slight squeeze.   
"Not only I start over, you too." A smile grazed your features as you looked up at him.

He stared back still that unreadable expression in his eyes. A long moment of silence ensued. You, still holding his hand. Own eyes dancing to the left and back to him quickly. Flickering to your hand holding his. His hand was warm. The two of you were standing still, not moving an inch, yet it seemed so overwhelming for you. Suddenly looking back at him was too much. 

_That wasn't too cheesy, was it?_ Heat crawled up your cheeks. Before you could say anything, he squeezed back. 

You paused, then a grin spread on your face. That was enough confirmation you would get from him to know that he appreciated your words greatly. You took in as much of that rare close moment as you could. Who would have guessed that things would work out between you two? Definitely not you at first. But now you were certain about this becoming pleasant experience. 

"And now finish this bandage up, I don't wanna sit here forever."


	10. Chapter 10

  
After 049 had finished bandaging you up, he proposed the idea of staying here for you to recharge. You tried to object, but there was no good reason against his. Especially after a yawn had escaped your mouth. 049 could get quite stoic.

"Get some sleep.", he advised. An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach at the mentioning of that. The nightmares had turned any attempt to sleep into a restless night of terror and jolting awake. It was something not easy to talk about. Every time you thought about speaking up, you suddenly felt stupid for being afraid of dreams.

Despite your guts having query second guesses, you slid towards the edge of the table. The pain from your injury crept back into your consciousness again.You were too exhausted to get up and gave 049 a look he knew how to decipher. One of his hands moved to your back, the other under your knees and he heaved you up. You clasped his shoulder tightly. The time would probably never come where you would become accustomed to being carried.

"I can't sleep.", you chimed in timidly, a last attempt to prevent your awaiting nightmare further.

"Are you not tired?"

There was no denying that you were tired. Mouth shut tight, you let him walk you to the nicest looking place to sleep at. With every step the knot in your stomach twisted tighter.  
 _Come on, it's just sleep. Those nightmares are just dreams_. You tried telling yourself over and over.

Sudden panic overwhelmed you as 049 was about to place you down. Instinct took over and your fingers dug into his shoulders before you touched the ground.

"Don't!", you pleaded. The desperation in your voice made him stop immediately. 

His expression turned soft.  
"What is wrong?", he asked gently.

There it was again. His soft tone he used whenever he knew there was something up with you. If only he knew how much of an impact that soft voice had on you. You had gotten to know him that well to be sure of that he already had a hunch of what was up with you. Denying everything would only lead to him observing your every movement under his watchful gaze. 

"...Nightmares.", you finally mumbled after an eternity of thinking up the best response, only to scrap it all last second. Immediately afterwards you hid deeper in his arms embarrassed by admitting that.

"They really are that bad, hm?", he asked sympathetically. Hands still over your burning face, you hesitated then nodded carefully. 

He hummed thoughtfully. The familiar sound eased your anxiety slightly.  
"I see..."

He didn't want to push you into telling him anything, but after todays happening you knew he would take it personal. Not against you, but against himself. You didn't want to damage the fragile new bond that you two had formed. Didn't you say yourself that you trusted him? 

Quietly you spoke up.  
"I... am being chased by a creature."

Now it was his time to nod and listen. You were reluctant to continue, but did so anyway. "And there are corpses. Blood. A gruesome scene unfurling itself further with every step I take." Words were gushing out of your mouth before you knew it.

"I wake up before anything bad happens." You paused, unsure if you should say more.

049 took that burden of your shoulder.  
"That does sound very vivid from your description, almost as if you have seen it." He said it as a statement but the question he actually wanted to ask was unmistakable 

"You see..." You hesitated. But not for long. "Before I ran into you, I encountered a group of survivors..."

Your gaze focused on your hands. "A specimen was after them. The creature hates being looked at and goes into a frenzy if somebody takes a glance at its face. They did. And they all died. The MTF units bullets proofed useless. I was present at that time and got away luckily."

Huh. Talking about it... did kind of feel relieving. 

"I am sorry that you had to witness something as terrifying as that." The compassion was genuine. "If I may ask, is that where you got hurt?" 049 shifted your weight around.

You confirmed his question with a bow of your head.

"This does explain a lot."

You gave him a puzzled look.

"My apologies, I meant your nightmares. Dreams are the time we process what happened. I suppose you did not have time to deal with the situation awake and simply pushed it away. Your injury being a greater problem than what you had witnessed... So the neglect of that trauma manifests in your dreams."

049 readjusted his grip on you. You were listening with half an ear. He continued talking, but all you could focus on was his velvety voice and warmth. The combination lulling you to sleep. A yawn managed to fight its way out of your mouth.

He paused his monologue.  
"There we go.", he whispered. "There is nothing to be afraid of, I am here keeping watch. If you are experiencing another unpleasant dream, I will wake you up."

He made a move to place you down again.

"Don't leave me."

"I do not want to sound rude, but carrying you gets exhausting over time."

You didn't let go of his arm.  
"You said you'd stay...", you muttered.

"Figuratively speaking. I was going to take a seat at that desk."

"Then just sit down now."

He hesitated.   
"Would that really be fine by you?", he asked. The way his voice sounded, made your heart wrench. So unsure of himself. He was still convinced that he was untrustworthy.

"It most certainly is.", you said sleepy and smiled warmly, which was broken by yet another yawn. 049's gaze lingered on you longer than usual. As soon as you met his eyes he broke eye contact, instead glancing to his left. You didn’t bother to think about it more. Tiredness was getting the better of you. You slumped back in his arms.

He sat down as you requested of him. You were seated in his lap while he put an arm around your shoulder to prevent you from falling. You leaned your head against his chest. He pulled you closer. That was enough confirmation you needed. You nestled closer to your comfiness, loosely draping your arm around him to use his chest as a pillow. His other arm rested on your stomach. You sighed contently.

For the first time you felt secure in this facility. It was by no means more comfortable than the corner full of cushions but laying in 049's arms gave you a feeling of safety. A feeling you had desperately craved ever since everything went down. You really meant it when you said you trusted him.  
You nuzzled deeper into his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

  
It was a nice dream. Well, weird would describe it better. Some voice had been calling you. You couldn't understand what it said. It had been muffled, as if it had been talking through thick fog. All you could decipher it saying was _finally_ in an incredibly annoyed voice.

That was all you could remember as you woke up. Nevertheless you slept well considering the previous nights. Your eyes blinked tiredly a few times before fully fluttering open. 

"Good morning, sunshine.", 049's velvety voice greeted you. "Did you have any unpleasant dreams?"

You gave him a genuine smile while stretching your arms. "I slept real nice." Which was true. You stretched comfortably while relishing the first sleep without any nightmares. And abruptly became aware of the position you were in.   
Still sitting in 049's lap, cuddled against his chest while he held you tightly. A bright blush exploded on your face. 

"What's wrong?", 049 asked worried, his hand immediately shooting up to touch your face.

"N-nothing!", you stuttered and started to get up, but he pulled you closer.

"You seem to be burning up, you are all red!" His hand was on your cheek, stroking over it with his thumb as if to wipe away the colour. Which in turn only made things worse.

"N-no, I'm fine. It's probably just the lighting in this room.", you brushed off trying to fight off the deep blush taking over your face and the urge to lean into his palm.

"I am just worried about you.", he said. There was something about his tone and words combined that made your heart tumble in your chest.

"I'm sorry.", you apologized. You felt him relax. That was the opportunity to get up.  
He released you without protest and followed your example. He grunted in discomfort and stretched, shaking his arms to regain feeling. You giggled. A happy noise lighting up the gloomy atmosphere. 

You noticed him staring. "What is it?", you asked laughing.

"This is the first time I hear you genuinely laugh."

You stopped, hand hovering over your mouth as if you were caught. The thought never crossed your mind, but now that you were thinking about it, you noticed he was right. You were kind of taken a back by his words.

"You know something?", he said.

"Hm?"

"It suits you."

  
After walking for quite some time now, you began to appreciate one thing. Being carried had turned out to be pretty damn nice. Much better than walking yourself. It didn't strain your wound and yourself.

But asking to be carried would be ten times more painfully embarrassing than what you were experiencing now. So you continued walking... While every step hurt like hell. To sum it up nicely, it was going rather slowly. But still better than last time.

You had already proposed the idea to get Scp 500 or 427 to patch you up, but 049 had refused. "I am not going back for some self proclaimed cure", had said the self proclaimed cure. How ironic. Although you were pissed, you had not persisted any further to avoid an argument. After all, that was a very touchy subject.

"Where to?", 049 asked, having slowed down in front of a junction. Lost in thoughts, you hadn't paid attention to your surrounding, so you had to relocate yourself. "Oh eh..."

Since he was helping you walk, you had to stay close. He adjusted his hand at your side lower to not touch the wrapped injury, sliding down until he finally settled at your waist. Pulling you closer to him as a side effect. "Is that ok?", he asked. You nodded in response. The constant questions for your well being were overwhelming at first, but now a different feeling had settled. His concern was... cute. It made you feel special somehow. 

You leaned into his touch. It took you some time to adjust to his help at first, but now you appreciated the support. Walking was easier. It took you a few moments to recognise your surroundings. A familiar sign caught your eye. Cafeteria. Perfect.

You escaped from 049's grasp and pushed the doors open with what little strength you had left. The room was huge, tables and chairs everywhere, dimly illuminated by the emergency power. You only cared for the small vending machine in a corner to the left, isolated from all the other furniture in the room.

You stumbled forward like a drowning person to land. Scp 294, the vending machine being the only thing that mattered to you. With just a few quick button presses, this incredibly useful Scp could give you anything you could ever wish for. As long as it was liquid. 

"What are you doing?"

You jumped at 049's voice, abruptly shaken out of your trance.   
"Nothing special, just getting a drink...", you answered nonchalant and typed your order in.

"Something that will make (y/n)'s pain go away...", he read along even though you tried blocking his view. 

"No fair! Stop being taller than me!", you whined.

"Are you questioning my abilities?" Your heart dropped at his ominous tone. Luckily, the vending machine saved you from having to answer by giving a strange, loud noise which signalised the drink being ready to consume. As you outstretched your hand, you shot a glance in 049's direction. He wouldn't, would he-

He took the cup.

"Hey!", you shouted indignantly and tried to snatch YOUR order out of his grasp, but he simply held the cup above his head where you could not reach it, unless you could magically grow taller. You jumped once, but immediately regretted it once the pain hit you. "Are you serious?", you huffed through gritted teeth. "Exploiting me being shorter than you like this?"

"Yes. And now please continue to lead the way outside", he answered and turned you towards the exit. His hand rested on the small of your back as he walked you away from the vending machine. You turned back immediately and headed straight towards the vending machine.

"(Y/n)..." 049's voice lowered. Even though he spoke calmly, you definitely felt the warning creep up your back. 

You mustered up the most innocent look you could make and looked at him with big round eyes as you responded. "Hey relax, I thought maybe you were thirsty and would want something?"

You were so close to having the pain gone. You weren't giving up now. "This thing is amazing. Watch."

His stare intensified but he didn't apprehend you. He simply stepped closer, looming over your shoulder to watch your next move intently. Your back was brushing against his body as you pressed the buttons and typed in "049's favourite drink".

As you turned around with the finished product you noticed the stolen cup was missing from his hand. "Here." You offered the drink with a reconciling smile. He eyed the drink warily and made no attempt taking it. You stood there expectantly knowing that eventually his curiosity would win over his suspicion. Just what you assumed happened and the cup left your hand. And as expected he began to examine the liquid.

Quick, he was distracted! You hurried over to turn around and re-enter your order but spotted the medicine on top of the vending machine instead. With a quick glance to confirm that the coast was clear, you snatched the cup from on top of the vending machine and gulped it down in one piece.

The unexpected bitter taste almost made you spit everything out. As soon as the last droplets left the cup, you stuffed the remains into the small space behind Scp 294. The bin was a few steps away, and you didn't dare throwing it. Either the sound or your inability to hit the trashcan could alarm 049. Possibly both. If this whole building was littered with corpses, leaving a plastic cup would not be that bad. 

Or would it...?   
_Environment, please forgive me._

A sigh coming from 049 made you flinch.  
"I remember this. Wakes up past memories.", he chuckled lost in thoughts, probably remembering something from drinking the liquid you would never get to know.

For a hot second you thought he caught you right during the act. Giving him a special order from the vending machine was a good idea.  
Wait, if he was drinking, he had to take of his mask. Your head jerked in his direction. Too late, he was still wearing his mask. Or did he drink with his mask on...?

049 noticed your intense stare and interpreted it differently, offering you a sip. Not wanting to be rude, you took a mouthful. 

You couldn't pin point exactly what the drink was, but it didn't taste bad. Much better than that medicine for sure.

The medicine...You kind of felt bad now by drinking the liquid. It kind of felt like you had betrayed him. Hopefully he hadn't noticed the cup missing. His down right stoic distaste for other healing possibilities besides his own was kind of getting on your nerves, but it was just his weird way of showing that he cared greatly. And you did show him the worst side of using outside help with the ring which apparently had almost killed you. He didn't want you to get hurt any further and just wanted to stay on the safe route only considering things that he knew. It was a weird way of showing concern, but you appreciated it.

You felt your cheeks warm up again. You took another sip to hide the colour. _Wait, wasn't drinking out of the same cup some kind of indirect kiss...?_ You choked on the fluid. 

With an awkward smile you returned the cup. "Tastes good."  
He hummed in approval, and turned his attention towards the vending machine. You stepped out of the way, but grew curious rather quickly at what he was typing in. Taking a look over his shoulder while you were standing on your tippy toes. To not loose your balance, you supported your weight by resting your hands on his back. A smile formed on your face as you saw him type in (Y/n)'s favourite drink.

_Come to me..._

"Sorry, what did you just say?"

"I did not say anything", 049 said, still focused on the task.

"Forget it, was probably just my imagination.", you frowned. 049 handing you your cup quickly distracted you from the weird occurrence. You accepted it hastily. You were really curious now what your supposed favourite drink would taste like. Gingerly, you took a sip.

A happy feeling exploded in your gut. This stuff was amazing! You had no idea which flavour it was, since it tasted like everything you liked at once, but not at all in a disgusting way. You beamed with glee as you drank more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to chime in to express my gratitude yet again to all the people reading, commenting and leaving kudos! You guys are the real heroes! It puts a big smile on my face every time I log into my account and see someone commented or left kudos. Thank you so much!


	12. Chapter 12

You had been drinking your favourite drink together with 049 enjoying each others presence while taking a break. Then the next thing you knew there was something urging you to continue, almost making you storm out the door.

049 had agreed on carrying on, though he didn't have much to say in that matter, since you practically darted off right away. He didn't show any sign of surprise at your sudden ability to walk freely without aid. You hadn't given it much thought anyways. There were other things on your mind. You had to follow the urge.

You had no idea where you suddenly took the impressive orientation skills from, but you were nearly running through the halls. The door in front of you opened by the use of the keycard. That strange urging feeling told you to go there. It almost tucked you into the right direction. With your foot almost through the door you only then noticed the person.

A D-class stood right next to you hidden in the door frame, pressed against the wall. Eyes wide open looking forward. The way the convict tensed up told you that they had noticed your presence from the corner of their eye. They whispered something, too quiet for you to understand, but the urgent gaze spoke for itself. It was eerie how he didn't look at you.  
A shudder ran down your spine. The door closed in front of you.

"Is there something wrong?"  
You yelped in surprise and turned around to see 049, as expected.

He reached out to touch your shoulder apologetically.  
"I am sorry, I was not intending to scare you. I would hate to cause another cardiac arrest."

You let out a huff of air.  
"I was just startled, don't worry.", you reassured brushing of his hand, lingering on it longer than intended. "Wait what, another?"

"Why did we stop?", he asked instead of answering, his question overpowering yours.

"I stopped because...", you began, index finger high up in the air, having absolutely no idea how to explain to 049 that you did not want to test the possibility of him killing that person outside the door. As you turned around to come up with a lame excuse, you almost jumped out of your shoes at the sight of what was awaiting you at the window.

Scp 173, the statue, stood right at the window.

_Leave_

That was what the D-class was mouthing before.  
"Because, of that", you said casually, ignoring the sudden urge to run far, far away.  
Play it cool.

"I see..." 049 stared back at the other Scp intently.

"Come on...", you whined, weakly tugging his arm to get him away from the door.  
Was this some kind of territory war between 049 and 173 they had to settle in a stare down?

_Come to me..._

You blinked rapidly and shook your head.  
"It can't follow us without a keycard, let it be!", you groaned but it was as if you were talking to a statue.  
Hehe Statue.

_Listen to my command._

A sudden flinch rattled through your body, then your arms dropped. You turned around and continued down the halls.

_Come to me..._

There was just one way directly etched into your vision. You followed it with ease.

_Through this door..._

You listened and went through the door. The room that unfurled itself wasn't very large. A huge glass wall took up most of the space, separating the room into two halves.

A voice spoke from the other side.  
"Finally! A human that didn't die on the way." The sound was very charismatic and delighted.

On the floor lay a D-class, sprawled on the dirty ground. Black ooze staining the former orange uniform. But you already knew that. He turned his head and you could see his face. A mask contorted into a strange mixture between sadness and happiness. You felt complete after finally hearing and seeing the voice in person. Well, almost complete...

"Open the door.", the D-class ordered, the joyfulness having left his tone. You turned towards the control panel and mechanically pressed the right buttons.

How did you know all this. A click emitted from the massive steel door. The D-class made no attempts to flee or move. The only signs of life he was giving, were his head movements and commands.

"And now come to me..." The eerily seductive tone enticed you forward. You stumbled towards the unlocked door.

"So we meet again, mask.", another voice interrupted. You hesitated taking another step, but a harsh mental nudge pushed you forward to the D-class again.

"Greetings doctor." The D-classes voice was sharp and crisp in comparison to the other. Edging you forward. It ached being this far away from the mask.

"I am afraid to interrupt you but you can't have this human." Something about him was familiar. A thought swam the surface, but was quickly pushed back aside by an outside force.

"But she wants to come to me. Don't you see her walking towards the door?" A malicious laugh erupted from the D-class body, shaking it.

An arm snaked around your wrist pressing you against the newcomer. "She is mine."  
The prisoner laughed harder, head hitting the floor. His limp body trembling harder.

_COME TO ME_

It felt as if a button switched. Something was almost physically pulling you towards the door. You had to get to the D- class. Your life depended on getting to them. You made a distressed noise, unable to form words, and squirmed in the persons arms.

_The door. The door. The door. The door._   
_The door. The door. The door. The door._   
_The door. The door. The door. The door._

You struggled but your holders grasp only tightened.  
"Getting a little possessive, aren't we doctor?", your goal mocked amused. You were turned around and now face to face with the masked person holding you captive.

"Snap out of it, (y/n)."

What a soothing voice. Slowly, your hand raised on itself etching towards his face.  
The laughter continued snapping you out of your daze.

You squirmed harder in his grip, pushing your hands against his chest.

"I don't have time for your stupid games!", the man growled. Anger radiating off of him in waves.

"Too bad, I have a lot of time to spare!", the D-class snickered.

"What do you want?"

"A human body. As you can see this one is pretty damaged." He shakily lifted a broken arm, the wound continuing to ooze weird black blood. "I thought you were smart enough to have figured that out already.", he pouted faking sadness.

"Alright then." The man hissed. Another person suddenly appeared out of the shadows.

The D-class perked his head up in interest. "You offer me a substitute?"

"Yes", he confirmed. "Leave this human immediately." The deep growling demanding tone in his voice ignited something deep inside of you.

The D-class laughed. It was rich and full, filling up the whole room. "I am honoured to be able to possess something this different...”, more delighted sounds escaped his throat.

Then he stopped suddenly. "...would I say if this object wasn't given to me as an exchange for such a measly human life form." He spat the last three words out disparagingly. "Why would you protect this human? This one won't obey you like your cured ones."

Your captivator remained silent. The zombie like person moved forward in your place to the D-class. Something else inside you moved, moved out of your body. Your hands tried to grasp it. You didn't want to be left alone.

As soon as the D-class took of the mask, you instantly limped, like a marionette which threads had been cut. Your own being that had been pushed far into a corner quickly filled you up again. Thoughts were there again. Your own thoughts. Scp 035 definitely deserved it's title as a Keter. Your mind felt so small once the entity left it.

049 was already having a firm grasp on you so you wouldn't meet the floor today. "How are you feeling?", he murmured.

"Empty." you answered faintly, trying to get a hold of your body functions. You felt like a new-born deer trying to walk for the first time, having lost control of your limbs like this. You felt so cold. Your body shivered involuntarily. He pressed you tighter against him. Your face buried itself in his warm shoulder naturally, taking in his body heat. He relaxed and caressed your hair, whispering apologies into your ear. The masks presence forgotten for a short amount of time.

"You have gone... soft", the Keter frowned. He stood there mid raised with his new vessel. Eyeing 049 soothing you with a deeply disgusted look.

049 stayed silent, stroking your back. "I... guess.", he said absently.

"Don't let that softness cloud your vision.", the Scp hissed, raising up to his whole height.

The mask stood up, swaying a little but catching himself quickly. With every step his movements became more normal. Just as the Scp was about to leave, it stopped suddenly. "The humans are already reforming and planning to strike back. You better hurry.", he mumbled.

Then the mask disappeared, 049 staring after him.


	13. Chapter 13

Silence engulfed the two of you after the mask had left. It was beautiful silence. The kind of silence that was mutual. 049 held you close. You nuzzled into his embrace savouring every moment of the closeness and comfortable feeling warming up your chest. Eyes closed, completely at peace.

"He is gone now.", 049 murmured. His silky voice was right next to your ear, sending a pleasant prickling sensation down your spine.

"Right...", you murmured hugging him closer. You felt a lot better now, having full control over your body again.

"We need to get going." He repeated urgently, breaking the hug, but still holding you close. Reluctantly you opened your eyes, hands resting against his chest now.

The urgency in which he spoke, made your heart sting. Did he want to leave that badly? Oh what were you thinking, of course he did. He had been locked up in this facility against his will for quite some time. What made your heart ache, was the thought of leaving. Leaving meant going your separating ways. 

The mask had said it himself that you two were close to the exit now. And you knew that as well of course. As soon as you both would exit this building, there was nothing keeping you two together. The deal that had been intertwined your paths would be fulfilled. That thought had been floating around your head for a while now, but had always been pushed back. There was still time, you had reassured yourself. But now there wasn't a lot left.

"Are you really going to believe what that dangerous entity said?", you asked quietly.

"He likes to expand the truth, but he is no liar. We should take his word serious." 

He squeezed your arm and then let go of you. You missed the warmth of his body already as he left through the door.

"Where to?", 049 asked as soon as you caught up to him. Entering business mode again. You sighed.

"It's not far from here. This way I guess.", you answered truthfully, but reluctantly.

"That does not sound very convincing." He chuckled and looked at you.

You turned away. You knew your way around here. The exit was very close.  
Modern art pictures had been hanging on the wall before, now laying broken on the floor. White, sterile walls turned into a more welcoming yellowish colour. Especially that small plant next to the wall was a dead give away to where you were. It was running gag between employees that this thing was an Scp itself since nobody ever watered it, and the little weed still continued to flourish in these unhealthy surroundings.

This was the right way. Just a few more turns... Around the corner... Passing the plant, which earned an amused grin from you because it was astonishingly still unharmed. And then...

Then...

Then what?

Your heart stung again. Then what.  
The deal would be fulfilled once you exited the facility. You and 049 would split paths. The deal was what kept you two together. You would leave this damned place. You should be happy about this. Leaving this hellhole was all you ever wanted. Then why did thinking about all this... hurt?

"Is everything alright?"

049's voice snapped you out of your daze. You would definitely miss his smooth voice.  
"Yeah.", you smiled, but it didn't reach your face. He knew something was up, but had the curtesy not to ask. He waited as if to inquire you to continue, but you remained silent. As he reached out to touch your arm in a comforting gesture, you sped ahead taking the lead. You didn't make it far, because then there it was.

The last corner.

Taking it would bring you to the ridiculously large reception area and the long awaited exit. Your feet stopped, acting before you could process your torn apart thoughts.   
Why didn't you choose the wrong path to further prolong your dawning goodbye? Or simply pretend to not know the way? Why were you even asking these questions, you already knew the answer.  
You couldn't do this to him.

You heard 049 stepping next to you.  
"There is something bothering you.", he said knowingly.  
The incredible softness in his voice touched something deep inside you. And suddenly it was incredibly hard to look at him. Looking up in general. His fingers tenderly brushed a few loose strands of hair away. 

"It’s just that...", you mumbled trailing off fidgeting with your hands. His alluring dark eyes looked straight into yours. Without ever even seeing his face, you could still always feel the genuine concern for you radiating off of him. It made you all fuzzy inside just thinking about it. 

"Since were so close to leaving...” Subconsciously your hand raised itself to grasp his, but you hesitated. “I just want you to know that...”

He hummed encouraging you to continue. 

“I really...”

A few second passed.   
You had him all to yourself, his attention was fully directed towards you.

More seconds passed  
Still holding eye contact, you felt your legs beginning to melt at the tenderness inside his gaze.

More time passed.  
You looked away shyly. You didn't have the courage to finish that sentence. Your hand had awkwardly remained mid air, so you abandoned your move, playing with the hem of shirt.

He broke the silence. "The exit is up ahead, is it not?", he said quietly. You looked him straight in the eyes, a sad expression confirming his assumption. His features softened and his hand raised to cup your cheek affectionately.

"STEP ASIDE FROM THAT STAFF MEMBER, SCP 049. WE GOT YOU SURROUNDED AND ARE READY TO SHOT." A voice boomed through the floor.   
Both of you flinched closer together instinctively.

Foot shuffling disturbed the comforting peace and the sound of guns being pulled out and positioned. Soldiers clad in familiar black and white surrounded the two of you, guns pointed at 049. Their riffles following every movement menacingly.

The MTF units.  
The mask didn't talk shit.

Your body acted on its own.

"Stop!", you screamed and ran in front of 049, shielding him protectively. Your arms shot upwards to signalise no threat coming from you. 

Gunshots.

At least three.

Your ears rang. But no pain. You definitely knew how being shot felt after all. Was it just a warning shot or did they miss?

"DON'T!", you screamed again. They remained stiff this time, not acting again. You relaxed slightly.

"(Y/n)...", 049 muttered from behind you. There was something about his tone that was alarming you. Your heart dropped. You spun around. 

His hand was pressed against his side.


	14. Chapter 14

No.  
Nonononono.  
This can't be happening.

"Don't you dare die on me!", you shrieked. He swayed while taking a step backwards. Seeing him lacking his usual graze spoke more than words. He clutched his side and something fell to the ground but all you saw was him stumbling to regain his balance. Just as he was about to fall, you somehow managed to catch him. Immediately dropping to your knees and continuing to slowly descend to the floor.

The MTF units sucked in a breath, but didn't step in. Their guns were still directed towards you two. If they moved now, they would surely alarm the Scp, resulting in you being killed first. So they waited.

You were too focused on 049 to even notice them anymore. All that mattered was him now. Tears already dwelled and fell as soon as you got a look at his face. His hand brushed against your cheek immediately in a feeble attempt to wipe away the drops.

"(Y/n)..."  
Oh, his voice sounded so weak and soft. Your heart shattered into a million pieces.

"I'm here, I'm here.", you whispered, voice strangled.

After everything you two went through, this was how it would end? After finally becoming close, leaving that initial distrust and hostility behind, this was it? You had never actually thought about what would happen after you two had escaped the facility.

You didn't want to think about it, simply pushed it back into a corner far, far away to stay. It felt weird to think about not having him around anymore. Something inside you ached at the concept.

It was safe to say that you had grown accustomed to him. Heck, appreciating his presence. Valuing it. He had been there when nobody else was. Tending your wounds, comforting you, talking to you, simply _being_ there. There was so much he had done for you he probably wasn't even aware of.

Before you knew it, all these unspoken words spilled out of your mouth. "I can't loose you! After everything we have gone through? You have always been there for me whenever I needed you! I am so terribly sorry! This is all my fault. If I hadn't postponed our leave... I am so incredibly selfish for wanting more time with you! I just... the thought of you not being there anymore..." you broke down sobbing. "I... I really like you a lot!", you cried between tears, right as another sob burst through your lips, shaking your whole body violently.

You pressed your face into his shoulder. Tears staining the fabric. You could hear his heart beating, but it did not calm you down in the slightest. It felt like you were listening to a timer running out.

"(Y/n).", he said again, firmer this time. The sudden strength made you jolt even though it was barely louder than normal speaking volume.

You snivelled lifting your head, vision all blurry with tears hugging him tighter.  
"Yes?"

Dark eyes locked with your own teary ones. His hand wandered its way up your waist. You grasped it tightly against your cheek, relishing the warmth it still had. He sighed and used his other hand to give another weak attempt to wipe away your never ending tears.

"Relax it's just a tranquilizer."

Your mind blanked.  
"Oh."

With a vague gesture of his unoccupied hand, he pointed towards two red darts laying next to you he had pulled out immediately. The substance had entered his system nevertheless.

Relief and never ending happiness washed over you in a whirlwind of emotions. New tears formed, this time of joy. You made a happy noise and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I thought I lost you!", you cried, burying your face into the crook of his neck.

049 wriggled weakly in your tight embrace, and suddenly you were aware of the severity of a tranquilizer. His hand slid towards your waist again. You pulled back about to ask him what you should do, but he was faster.

"You are hit too."

Your mind blanked once more. All you could do was follow his gaze towards a small red dart stuck in your waist, thankfully not your injured side. Now that you stood motionless and didn't apprehend him unknowingly, he could finally pull it out with his last remaining strength. It stung lightly.

"Oh."

And with that, you were out cold.


	15. Chapter 15

(Y/e) eyes fluttered open and then clenched shut against the harsh fluorescent lights of the room. The room was supposed to be dimly lit, but failed at that simple task. 

049\. 

You sat up swiftly. The tranquilizer. MTF units. The foundation was back and collecting the Scp's like the lost items they were treated as.

Oh god, where was he? Undoubtedly not here with you in this room. Panicked worry settled itself in your gut. You had been placed in a comfortable bed with white sheets. How did they proceed with him?

"Ah, you're finally awake!", a voice chirped in. You spun around coming face to face with a man standing next to your bed. He was clad in a white lab coat, marking him to be most definitely a scientist. You remembered the face, but weren't sure about his name.

"I'm Dr. Sherman.", he introduced himself anyways. A scientist. Your heart desperately wanted to ask him about 049 right away, but you knew better. After you won this mans favour, you could ask. Right now would only sound suspicious.

"Sorry in advance.", Dr. Sherman said.

Before you could ask why, a sharp pain made you hiss. He had removed the needle stuck in your arm you hadn't noticed until now. 

"You had a dangerously low blood count, so we had to hook you up to a transfusion. How come so actually?", he asked friendly.

You were both aware that he already knew the answer. "I was shot.", you replied flatly. 

A bandage was placed over the small incision. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.", he didn't sound that at all. "I specifically told our men to shoot with tranquilizers to not hurt anyone. I will talk to them immediately."

You hated this question game. All you wanted was to be left alone. Hell you just woke up and were already confronted with way to much input! Didn't he see how traumatized you were? He saw your injury, he definitely knew.

The Scientist grabbed a chair and took a seat. That only spoke more than words. He wouldn't leave as long as he got his answers. You took a breath and continued this one sided conservation to get it over with quickly. "No need to, this happened during the beginning of the containment breach."

"Is that so?" Curiosity gleamed in his eyes. "Then how and when did you get shot?"

You visibly tensed. "The... C-tract."

His eyes widened. "But that floor was almost completely wiped out by Scp 096. How did you survive?"

Your eyes darted downward, clearly uncomfortable to delve into these memories. "By not looking at its face."

To say that he was impressed, would be an overstatement. Dr. Sherman was simply... surprised? He hummed thoughtfully and stroke his chin. It reminded you of 049. Oh god, was he alright?

"Who was the scientist that told you?"

"I can read.", you snapped back, immediately regretting the rough answer.

A few awkward silent seconds passed, before he started laughing. You loosened your strained shoulder at the sound, not having realized how hard you had tensed up in the silence. "What a temper you have!", he chuckled.

You flushed embarrassed.

"Anyways.", he waved dismissively between laughs. "Being shot meant you were bleeding heavily."

Now it was painfully obvious which subject he ACTUALLY wanted to address.

"I found a first aid kit and patched myself up. And then I embarked on a quest to retrieve the jaded ring." A distant look replaced your embarrassment quickly as you remembered that time.

"Smart move.", he praised. You felt yourself straighten up immediately. A sly smile was dangerously close to settling on your face. 

"But Scp 714 isn't able to heal your wounds. Besides the side effects would be devastating, if you had actually wore that object for that amount of time.", the doctor chimed in.

"Later I found myself face to face with Scp 294, the vending machine.", you shot back, confidence soon coming back to assist you.

"That isn't able to save you from death."  
He got you cornered now.

"But Scp 500 can."

"Miss (y/n)...", he paused significantly. The look he gave you was smug. He was in full control of this conversation and you loathed it.

"We both know that you would have died at least three times till now... Clearly a professional tended your wounds. So..." He leaned forward.  
"How did you make Scp 049 do that?"

You remained silent, simply glaring at him. Putting everything into that single glare. Dr Sherman wasn't bothered, smirking instead at your silent treatment. "Won't bust, will you?"

You remembered your earlier thoughts. He wouldn't leave as long as he didn't get his answers. "We just had a deal to escape from this nightmare.", you said, hopefully sounding as nonchalant as you were trying to convince yourself. And the deal hasn't been fulfilled yet, you added grimly to yourself.

The scientist stood up and gestured you to get up as well. What was it he wanted now? Warily you rose to your feet, but still followed him. His lab coat fluttered behind him like a cape as he strode through the door he opened with his keycard. He led you through some more white lit halls to a door. Again with his keycard, he opened it and let you in first.

You furrowed your brows, having absolutely zero idea what he was scheming with that scientist brain of his.

The room was a pretty average observation room where scientists could watch specimen through the enormously large and thick bulletproof glass front splitting this room into two, while not endangering themselves. You took a glance at the room behind the glass.  
Your heart skipped a beat. There he was!

You placed both your hands against the wall separating you both from each other. Sunken against the wall of the completely symmetrical white room. Your heart wrenched at the sight of 049 still being out cold. He looked so fragile... You wanted to be there when he awoke. Gently shaking him awake, taking his hand and leaving. This was all your fault. If your stupid emotions hadn't gotten in the way, then you would have been long gone.

The door behind you shut close. For a hot second you thought the scientist had locked you in all alone.

"You seem close to Scp 049." Dr. Sherman said.

You flinched hard and swiftly removed your hands from the glass silencing your heart overflown with emotions. A neutral look plastered on your face. "No, he's just-"

"He?", the doctor interrupted you.

Confused about his statement, you furrowed your brows. Then it clicked. "Ehm, yes. 049 is indeed male."

"It's SCP 049.", he cut in again, sharper this time.

"Of course. S...cp 049." The title left a bitter taste in your mouth.

"Now then...", he clapped his hands once to visibly announce a new topic.  
The sound eerily echoed through the room.

"My question. Let me repeat it. Why didn't Scp 049 kill you?"  
Your eyes immediately darted to said person.

"Well... we made a deal. I didn't want to get killed. Obviously. 04- I mean SCP 049 couldn't escape without a person that had knowledge about this place. So we made a deal to put our prejudice aside and escape together. That's it."   
He didn't need to know every last detail of your encounter  
.  
"Interesting... Did the Scp say that you were infected?"

"I guess not, otherwise he probably wouldn't have made that deal."   
You shrugged nonchalantly. "I was way to distracted with screaming at the reanimated corpses than listening to his- ehm Scp 049's rambling."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied typing something into a tablet he took from his pocket.

"One of the MTF units mentioned you to be crying as the Scp got shot.", he mentioned casually. 

You tensed up at the memory, but smoothed your posture out quickly. You let out a huff of air. "Well, how else am I supposed to react when I believe another living being I had spent the last days with is dying suddenly? After all I am familiar with the pain of a gunshot."

He didn't seem satisfied with your answer, but it seemed to be good enough for now since he started to nod slowly.

"That will be all for today. You're dismissed. I will bring you back to your room."

The relief off having the pestering questions gone couldn't settle in entirely. You looked at 049 longingly. The thought of leaving him made your heart ache. How long were you even out? Had he already awoken and they drugged him again? Your emotions got the better of you. "What are your plans for the Scp?", you asked quietly.

You almost didn't notice the triumphant expression striking Dr. Sherman’s face for a millisecond. Almost. It was replaced quickly by another one of his friendly gazes.   
"At the moment? Nothing much. We focus on getting normality back in this facility first. And then it will be back in its cell like the old days."

He pocketed the tablet and turned around. "But enough of that. Let's go drop you off at your room."

Your eyes scanned your surroundings. There was no other door here except the one you entered through. The entrance to his containment chamber would probably be next to the entrance to this door. With a keycard you could probably open both.

"I can go there by myself.", you remarked.

He smiled at you apologetically. "I'm sorry to inform you, but I can't let you. Nobody is allowed to wander around without a scientist or a MTF unit."

You snorted. "But what about leaving? Going home? Is a scientist gonna escort me there?"

His apologetic smile stretched. "Nobody is allowed to leave until every Scp is back in its containment chamber. Only entering is allowed."

You looked at him incredulous. This would complicate everything. "But... what am I supposed to do here?"

He shrugged. “What you do best. Wait for orders."

\--

The door slid close before you could even blink twice. Dr. Sherman’s footsteps rapidly decreasing in volume as he left. 

"I hate scientists.", you hissed, grabbing a pillow and kneading it furiously. "Still thinking they're the smartest and know the best!"

As soon as he left, you tried to leave, but soon noticed that it was futile. Without a keycard, exiting this room was impossible. After turning the whole room upside down in search of ANYTHING, you were sitting on your bed defeated. The whole back and forth pacing had gotten exhausting over time. Eventually you drifted off to sleep while mumbling curse over curse under your breath. The past days without a good portion of sleep had finally come to haunt you.

At least this room was full of everything a human needed to live. During your wild search you had discovered some food which you had already ate angrily and some clothes you miraculously only now noticed laying neatly on a stool. They were exactly the same uniform you were wearing now, but without the blood. As you changed into your new garments making sure no cameras were in sight, your fingers suddenly noticed something inside the pocket of your original pants. 

"No way...", you whispered, breath hitched in anticipation.

Greedy hands explored the pocket of your old clothes, and retrieved an object you would have never believed was still in your possession if your own two eyes weren't locked on its smooth surface.  
"The Master key card.", you whispered.


	16. Chapter 16

  
You couldn't believe your luck. This changed EVERYTHING.

You tried holding yourself back from storming through the door right away, instead waiting until the right timing arrived. Rash actions would lead to a worse situation than now. There was the possibility that somebody was stationed at your cell, or if you had really bad luck, a person could enter just as you were making your move.

But after you felt yourself growing more and more anxious over waiting it out, walking in circles for the millionth time, you couldn't take the suspense anymore. There was no indicator for how much time had passed, all you knew was that you couldn't contain yourself anymore and jumped to action immediately.

You pressed your ear against the gate to the outside world, and listened for anything.   
As you were sure that you weren't hearing anything, you took out your prized ticket to freedom. With a soft swivelling noise, the door slid open. Small glances to the left and right and the coast was clear.

What exactly was your plan? You weren't sure. Going for a quick walk and returning shortly after to not raise any suspicion sounded nice. Anywhere away from that makeshift prison for now would suffice.

You trotted through the familiar halls. It wouldn't hurt to take a few minutes outside to calm down. All this restless back and forth pacing in that small chamber of yours would be going to make you insane. Walking was supposed to ease your soul, but that kind was just driving you mad. This quick stroll felt nice.

And disrespecting the scientists orders was another reason making you feel better. You walked by some doors, carefully avoiding windows. Maybe visit a certain someone...

"We should have killed her right on the spot."

You froze instantly. The voices were coming from right behind you, slowly inching closer. Your eyes frantically searched for a hideout. Hopefully that door to your right was unoccupied.

"I told you we are going to keep her. She is useful for now. Let's see how close she and that Scp actually are. That bond could make it compliant", an older voice said.   
You dived right through the door as it opened via your key card.

The first voice, obviously a man, sneered. Footsteps were coming closer.   
To your luck, the room was currently empty. Judging by all the documents laying around, another scientist was claiming this office as theirs for now. Let's just hope not the ones you were listening to.

"If she tries to escape, you have my permission to kill her."   
A chill ran down your spine instinctively. Who were they talking about?

"And what if she doesn't cooperate?", he hissed.

"There are certain... methods... to force her if that problem does arise. Still we are only speaking hypothetically, if what Dr. Sherman concluded is indeed true. If not, then she can still be terminated."

They were talking about you. You pressed your hand against your mouth to silence your hitched breathing.

A short period of silence followed.

"Alright."

Seemingly satisfied, they started to converse about another topic light heartedly. They passed your door. Your heart thumped so loud against your chest that you were almost sure they could hear it. Their conversation was steering towards a different subject, but your ears rehearsed their previous words over and over.

They were going to use you against 049.

They were not going to let you leave after all this was over. Never. They lied. You would NEVER leave this place ever. They would kill to secure their secrets. The rumours about some of the D-class being held captive simply because they were witnesses were true. This facility had no remorse. They would kill you if you didn't cooperate or their perverted experiments didn't succeed.

Or if they caught you now! You would only leave this place dead IF at all.

Closing your eyes, you desperately wished for this all to be a nightmare. You rubbed your temples, already feeling panic starting to surface.

_Calm down._   
_Calm down._   
_Breath in._   
_Breath out._

You could just... go back to your room and think everything over. Come up with a plan.

The door to the room slid open.   
"Yes I got it, I'll be up in a few hours." The person laughed and mockingly winked goodbye. The gate slid shut and the scientist turned around.

Noticing you.

You stared at the woman like a deer caught in headlights, desperately wishing to just disappear. She didn't utter another word and instantly reached for her pocket. Before she could even reveal whatever she wanted to, you had already tackled her to the ground, her head hitting the floor hard upon impact. You pressed your hand against her mouth to silence any noise. Which proved unnecessary, since you had knocked her out cold.

You jumped away from her unconscious form.   
"Oh god I am committed now!", you freaked out, tugging at your hair. She had seen you and would immediately tell the others once she awoke. You paced back and forth in that small room. There was only one way now. If they caught you, they would kill you. You had to get out. The clock was ticking.

Your foot bumped against an object on the ground. It was a helmet the woman had hold instead of wearing it. If she had, this scenario could have played out a whole lot differently, most possibly anything but in your favour. You inspected the helmet closer, happy to steer your thoughts away from your fate.

Wasn't she a scientist? You were pretty sure of that. Then why was she wearing half the uniform of the MTF? Perhaps...They were low on staff.

Of course! All the MTF units were out against the Scps. Scientists were scantily taking care of some of the work the units usually carried out. A plan formed in your head.

You put on some of her clothes. The heavy vest, placing itself as a burden around your shoulders, making you wonder what material it was made of. Placing the pearly white lab coat above it. And finally donning the helmet on. You gave yourself a quick glance in the mirror. Clothe wise you passed exceptionally well as a scientist or whatever this mix between the MTF units was called now. The helmet did well in hiding your face, even though it covered your face partially. A spark of new found hope glinted in your eyes.

After taking care of the remaining mess, you snuck out and continued wandering the halls as quiet as a mouse. The woman had been propped up on her workplace, looking like she fell asleep on the job peacefully. You left the area occupied with rooms full of people and strolled further towards the containment tract.

Before you reached the containment area however, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Your whole body tensed. No, calm down. You straightened your back and marched forward at an evenly pace, praying for your disguise to work.

Not looking up, just giving a simple nod, you acknowledged the other persons presence. Cold sweat formed on your forehead. Boots entered your restricted field of vision, and vanished. Assumedly having nodded back, you parted ways.

You let out a shaky breath, flexing your fingers to remove the built up agitation. Excitement bubbled up to the surface from having come this far. You increased your speed having arrived at the containment area. No more people crossed your path, making it easy to reach your destination. Finally you stood before your objective.

You took a deep breath, glancing left and right for the last time and used the key card. A small part of you still believed it couldn't be that easy. Wasn't it weird that no guards were stationed at the containment area? Why didn't you encounter more people?

You silenced your burning questions with a simple low-on-staff answer. Procrastinating any longer was a waste of time. Don't talk, act. The key card opened the door flawlessly.

You entered. 


	17. Chapter 17

The room was just as you remembered it with the exception of 049 not being were he was before. He was standing in the middle of the room, back facing the glass front, writing in that unreadable book of his. It was such a familiar sight that it made your heart twinge. Seeing him again arose a bunch of emotions. All uncertainty before vanished and you were convinced now, that this was the right choice. Your heart ached to be closer. To be near him, hear him talk in that velvet voice, look at you with those dark comforting eyes... 

"Come to talk again, Doctor?", he said, snapping you out of your daydream. You slowed down, something about his tone sounded very much like a warning. Oh how could you forget that incredibly voice of his. It did all kinds of things to your body. 

"It's me!", you whisper-yelled across the room, lifting the visor to reveal your beaming face. 

Wary that he was, 049 took a glance towards the glass, then back at you. He closed the book and put it god knows where along with the pen. It was hard not to jump at him this instant into a warm welcome. He was clearly suspicious of you, rightfully so in your attire, and there was no chance in hell that you wanted to scare him off now with your giddiness. 

"Why would (y/n) even be here?", he asked, clearly not convinced. 

"To bust you out of here, of course!", you replied urgently and throwing up your hands. The clock was ticking after all. 

"She wouldn't be this gullible."   
His hand reached forward. You had seen that motion many times. He was warning you. 

"Ouch that hurt." You put your hand on your heart dramatically. He hesitated once he noticed that you didn't flinch away at all. Instead he carefully took the helmet off your head, scrutinizing you closer. 

"I have proof that I am me!", you rambled on. "Remember? I got shot!" You exclaimed way to excited and lifted your clothes slightly to expose the white gauze underneath. His gaze turned from wary to mild. As his hand inched closer, you stood still. 

"Everyone can see that and come to that conclusion.", he chuckled lightly, fingers ghosting over the wound, being very careful about coming in contact with the damaged skin. You shuddered under his gentle touch. 

A shaky breath left his lips. "This feels so real.", he muttered to himself quietly. The sadness made your heart ache. Why wouldn't it be? Did he seriously think you wouldn't come back for him? What has the foundation done to him? 

He tensed up as your hand inched closer to his, but didn't apprehend you. Not even as you took it in both of yours. Entrusting him with your life. If he wanted to, he could end your life in an instant now. 

"Because it is.", you said softly, looking up at him with a tender smile. He stared at your intertwined hands for a long moment before slowly adding his other hand to yours. Brushing over the knuckles with his thumbs then squeezing your palms as if to test if you would poof away. 

As you didn't he looked up sharply, straight into your eyes. The sudden movement made you jolt. "They forced you. They want something from you, right?" 

You cringed at his conservative nature. "They tried and not exactly.", you stretched, hating to destroy the tender moment. "I denied..." 

"It really is you.", he breathed. His hands cupped your cheek, stroking over the delicate skin. Your hopeful smile lit up the entire room, brightening the dull atmosphere of the sterile confinement chamber. You jumped straight into his arms, almost making him fall. He caught you and hugged back equally strong. 

"You are here...", he whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. He stroke your back and you buried your face into his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent, savoring every moment of the embrace. Taking every little detail in, how his arms encirlced your body tightly asnif afraid to loose you again. You couldn't be happier. You were finally reunited. He was safe and sound, not harmed. A dozen horror scenarios had painted itself inside your head on the way, luckily all proofed wrong.

"You are... here" 049 trailed off, sounding more and more confused. He broke the hug forcefully and grabbed both your shoulders. 

"Why are you here? Have you gone mad?! Once they find you, they will not hesitate to do unspeakable things!" 

You shrunk back into yourself, giving him an awkward smile. "Ahh, about that... Let me tell you more when we get to walking..." There was a slight tug in your gut that suspected that he wouldn't like what you were going to tell him next.

You quickly informed him about the latest happenings in a hushed voice. Somehow you had managed to finally leave the room, walking down the corridor. It was eerie how no other person crossed your path. The halls were empty. Way too empty. With each word you dropped, 049's pace got heavier and heavier. 

Once you finished, he exploded. "You should have just left!"   
Despite him keeping his volume low to not alarm people, it felt as if he had screamed at you. 

"Without you?! No way!", you replied, in an equally quiet, yet meaningful tone. 

"Yes! If they catch you with me, they will hurt you!" 

"But I can't abandon you!", you cried out desperately. 

"What matters is you!" He breathed heavily and grabbed a hold of your elbows. You trembled looking at him with wide eyes. He stilled as he caught a glimpse of your sight. The tight grip on you vanished quickly and he spoke much quieter. "If that saves your life, then you should have." 

"No!", your voice broke. "Stop saying things like this." 

He was about to speak again, but you shook your head, successfully silencing him. 

"I won't leave you here if there is even the slightest chance of me being able to get you out." Now it was you that had a tight grip on his arms. "We made a deal after all." You tried yourself at a laugh, but it came out as a faint huff. 

"It's more than that. We have been through so much... Without you I wouldn't have made it. You took care of me when I fainted and didn't let me die to my wounds. I won't be able to repay you for this ever. Busting you out of here is the least I can do. And you did even more. You comforted me when I was in need. Saved me from the masks influence even though you could have just continued onward. You should have. We wouldn't have run into the MTF unit then. When they shot you, I..."your voice quivered at the memory, gaze turning glassy. 

"I thought I was loosing you..." Your words were hushed whispers, choked from the awfuly memory. His slowly weaking body in your arms. "I have never felt that scared... It made me realize that I can't live without you, because I lo-", 

You stopped dead in tracks, a bright blush quickly blooming on your face once you realized what you were about to say just now if your mind hadn't clicked in. Slowly, your hand came up to cover your mouth, a tad to late now, for the words had almost spilled if you didn't catch yourself. 

He didn't say a word. Just watched you. You didn't dare to look at him and averted your gaze to the ground flustered. 

Fabric brushed over your skin. His gloved hands took yours tenderly. Heat rushed to your cheeks even more. 

"Close your eyes.", he said under his breath. You couldn't look him straight in the eyes anyways, so you were happy to oblige. 

The sound of clothes rustling made your ears perk up, but your eyes remained shut. His hand found its way to your waist to draw you in closer. Then something soft touched your forehead. 

A firework of feelings exploded in your guts. It was only a brief moment as his lips touched your forehead, but it meant the world to you. 

Your eyes fluttered open immediately but before you could get a good look at his face, he pulled you in for another embrace. He was human. Well, at least appearance wise. 

"I apologize.", he whispered only audible for you. You melted in his embrace. "I am grateful that you came back. I only say these words because I care about you. The thought that you could get hurt because of me... it is devastating. I would not be able to live with that burden. I care about your well being a lot. I care about YOU a lot." 

"(Y/n), I adore you.", he breathed right into your ear. You shivered, goose bumps hitting you all over. A warm feeling quickly spread throughout your whole body. Your hands slithered up his body to touch his face. He didn't apprehend you. 

Slowly you looked up. Right into his dark, captivating eyes. Looking at you with this gaze of absolute fondness and longing. A soft smile adorned his features directed only to you. Dark hair framed his face. Your heart skipped a beat. 

He was handsome. 

You blushed. Not of shyness. Your following action contradicted that. You stood up on the tip of your toes to reach his height and pulled him closer, shutting your eyes. His arms drew you in closer until your faces were only inches apart. His breath tingling against your cheek. You giggled softly at the feeling, then closed that unnecessary space and kissed him. 

The world seemed to stop and all worries evaporated into thin air, only 049 filling your thoughts. You melted into his touch and could feel him ease, the tension leaving his body. The kiss was so incredibly soft and affectionate, comforting in ways that words could not. You had missed him. So, so much and he had missed you. Passion filled the movement of your lips against each other. His hand loosing itself in your hair, your arms around his neck pulling him into a deep embrace. You sighed contently. 

Suddenly there was a loud bang and something pushed you over, away from 049. 

Pain. 

Familiar pain. 

The bullet hit you like a train throwing you to the floor. You gasped for air. 

"I knew there was more to this than just a simple "deal"." The voice spat. Like a snake spiting out its venom. 

Dr. Sherman stood in the door frame, hand outstretched, in it a gun. A cold yet triumphant look filled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You die the end.  
> Ok jokes aside, next chapter will be the last


	18. Chapter 18

049 fell to his knees immediately scouting for your wound. 

"I knew the first thing she would do once she found that key card, was come for you.", Dr. Sherman said, gun trained at 049. He circled the Scp that was busy with taking care of your heaving form on the ground. "I really wanted to test my theory. I am happy to say that everything went as planned."

"I sense the disease in you.", 049 said.

"Ha, that old nonsense again? Is that everything you have to say upon seeing a familiar face?", Dr. Sherman snorted. 049 stood up and approached him, leading him away from your body.

"Gets kind of repetitive don't you think?", he mused. The plague doctor came closer. 

"Stop right there.", he growled, cocking his gun. 049 stopped immediately.

Right as you flung yourself at the scientist from behind, wrestling for the gun. Just as 049 was about to step in, Dr. Sherman managed to knock the starlights out of you with the bottom of the weapon. He put one arm around your neck and the gun against your head.

"Don't think I have forgotten about you...", he growled. "You two put in quite a good show, but you have forgotten that I am quite familiar with the uniform you are wearing given the circumstances that I have it myself."

You squirmed heavily. Being taken hostage was definitely not part of the plan. "And those relieved glances from the Scp have given away way too much of the surprise element.", he continued. 

The pressure around your throat tightened. More and more and more. You scratched at his arm desperately, trying to get air.

"St-stop it." 

Dr. Sherman bellowed at the sight of the Scp. 049 took a step towards you as another wheeze left your lips. The ache you felt was nothing compared to the pained expression he had as he had to watch you choke in front of him. You had never felt that useless before.

The gun against your head returned.  
"Yes. That's what I want to hear..." The muzzle of it stroke your head affectionately. The pressure against your throat left, being replaced by the cold steel of the weapon. You inhaled heavily, taking in all the oxygen you could.

"Take of the jacket."

The words didn't reach your ears. You were too focused on your own breathing.

"Take off the bullet proof vest. We don't want another mistake happening."

He released you, gun trained at your head in case you wanted to try something. "Come on.", he growled, and you started to undress swiftly. Taking off the lab coat and involuntary the vest, leaving you in your uniform. It didn't feel good as the weight lifted from your shoulders. It left you vulnerable. Your captivator kicked the vest behind him out of your reach. Then you were back in the embrace of death.

"And now, step back into the containment chamber.", the scientist ordered to 049. 

He hesitated only for a second and complied.

"Don't...", you sputtered out. 

"I see now the appeal of letting you live. Dr. Waltmount was right. Having you comply to our every desire is far too good to be killed off."

"Don't! Leave now that you have the chance!", you cried out, squirming in the scientists grip. He yanked your head back roughly by grabbing a fistful of hair. You yelped in pain.

049 turned to you. "Do not oppose him." He gave you an imploring loom. "Please..." 

You teared up. "No! I can't let your loose your only chance of escaping this nightmare!"

"Seeing you getting hurt in front of me is worse a nightmare than confinement.", he breathed.

Dr. Sherman snarled against your continuing squirming attempts. He knocked the gun against your head, a cold and painful reminder of your situation. 

049 paused. "May I... have a minute with her?", he asked hesitantly.

As the scientist didn't answer, he spoke up again. "Please?"

A smirk crossed the man's face at the sight of the Scp begging. "If that'll make her obedient."

He shoved you forward, clearly wanting you to loose your footing. But not today. You managed to catch yourself, and then there was 049. Whispering sweet nothings into your ear, hugging you securely against him. He took your hand, brushing over your knuckles and pressed something into your... palm...? 

You looked at the item inconspicuous. The ring? 049 still had it?! You fumbled putting it on. He took it from your shaky hands, and gently slid the ring on your finger. A parting gift.

"049, no.", you cried. His gloved hand touched your cheek and his gaze was full of concern and feelings for you. "Be safe.", he whispered. 

"That's enough.", Dr. Sherman said, yanking you back by the collar of your shirt. 

You squeezed 049's hand one last time, before parting. The ring. He gave it to you to protect you. He couldn't bear to watch you get hurt. The ring made you withstand attacks and nullify the pain. It... made you invincible. You were sure of that. Pretty sure... 

049 definitely wasn't going to like what you were going to do next.

As if sensing your shift in mind, he shook his head vigorously. You smiled sadly and turned to Dr. Sherman with a grim expression.

This was your chance. As soon as he returned the vice like grip on you, you rammed your elbow into his stomach. Hard. He stumbled, firing the gun but missing. You could see 049 move out of the corner of your eye. It was enough time the scientist needed to collect himself and aim. But not at you. You weren't prepared at all for this. He was supposed to attack you!

You jumped forward right as he pulled the trigger, knocking the gun out of his hands. The impact of the bullet made you stagger backwards into 049. 

Dr. Sherman wheezed, clutching his stomach. "That... was unexpected.", he huffed. He crouched over, breathing loudly. Your punch had knocked more than just the air out of him.

049 held you close instinctively. Delicately as if you were made of glass. He whispered your name over and over. Growing more and more desperate as you didn't respond. Blood seeped through his gloves. Brushing strands of hair out of your face. Your eyes firmly remaining shut.

"How... does it feel losing a close one?", Dr. Sherman asked quietly.

"You said yourself that I am not a man of science, but of emotion. But look at yourself now...", he continued. "Look right at her face as she is taking her last breath... Never to speak, laugh, cry...live again.", the scientist whispered, sadness dripping from his words.

"Dr. Hamm was infected.", 049 spoke emotionless. His perceptive nature was ruthless just like the tone of his voice.

"Who gave you the right to kill Ray?!", Sherman screamed, rage replacing his composed nature. But he couldn't hide the sorrow in his eyes. 

"A disease needs to be stopped.", the plague doctor said. "It is... regrettable that he got sick." There was actual bitterness to his voice. "I... wish it had struck another person and not a fellow colleague."

"That does not bring him back!"

The plague doctor placed your body on the floor delicately, before all these traces of warmth left him and he stood up to face Dr. Sherman. 049 was taller, towering over the broken man as he approached further.

"He was my mentor! My friend! And you murdered him!", he screamed voice trembling and faltering towards the end. All the feelings from that faithful day came crashing down on him. There were tears at the corner of his eyes.

049 strode towards him. Extending his hand. The scientist stumbled backwards and fell due to his injuries.

Centimetres before making contact, 049 let out a sigh. Then started speaking.

"I could never understand how people could not see the importance in my work. Why they were upset. They were supposed to be happy that I was saving humanity. I could never understand that until now."

His eyes rested on your form shortly, before locking with the shaking man in front of him. 

"I apologize for causing such torment to you, to everyone. It was never my intention to become a bringer of pain." 

His gaze turned ice cold.  
"But your own suffering does not give you the right to take the life of another.", he said, voice lowering dangerously. His walls were up again. Going in for the kill mercilessly.

Dr. Sherman chuckled sadly. It was a pitiful sound. The sound of a man having nothing left to loose. "Ha... I guess you are right." 

The hand wavered.

"He always believed in the good... You have no idea how high he spoke of you. Even going against the authorities to let you resume your work. He was a firm believer that if we treat all subjects not as prisoners but as equals, we could accomplish much more. But look where that has gotten him..." Another said chuckle escaped his lips.

049 stood completely motionless.

The scientist sighed.  
"Everyday I step into this facility I am reminded of him." The grief dripping in those words was rooted deep within. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I wish I could see him again one last time..."

The plague doctor didn't answer. Instead going in for his signature move. Right before his hand came into contact with the forehead of the man in front of him, he murmured. "You will." 

With a sigh, Dr. Sherman fell to the floor. Dead.

049 retreated his hand, feeling nothing. Letting out a shaky breath, he brushed his hands against his clothes. The rustling of fabric made him perk up, even though he knew the source.

"Was I convincing enough?", you croaked from behind. He turned around slowly to see you propped up with one elbow. The bullet hadn't torn through your flesh, but had hit you right in your already existing injury, reopening the wound. Luckily only a small portion of blood had flown out. Nevertheless, it wasn't pleasant. The ring had proven that it didn't have the capacity to protect or heal already existing injuries, only preventing new ones.

049 could only stare at you for a few minutes. Drinking in your light smile. You lifting your hand to show him the ring on your ring finger to calm him. Suddenly you were way too far away from him.

He rushed forward hugging you so tight, as if he was afraid he would loose you as soon as he let go. You slumped against him exhausting and relief taking over. He pulled you close, desperately. For a brief moment he had actually believed he had lost you. He didn't say a word, but his needy touch told you more than any words could.

"Way to realistic.", he choked out.

\--

You wished you could stay like this for an eternity. Holding each other. So thankful to have each other. To be alive.

But prolonging had lead to all this chaos. It was your turn to gently remove yourself from 049 and whisper those words to him.

He could only nod and stand up with you. You passed Dr. Sherman’s corpse. A soul twisted by the death of a loved one. It only made you wonder how you would have reacted, if they had harmed 049.

The both of you swiftly walked through the hallways. They were empty. It seemed like Dr. Sherman had predicted your move beforehand and had stationed all the guards away from the path to the exit. 

No alarm went off. No guarded troops stormed the place. The world held its breath as you got the key card out of your pocket for one final time. You looked at 049, a silent question if he was ready. He squeezed your hand. 

The door opened and you both exited the facility together.

The rising sun welcomed you to step outside. It was the beginning of a new day. How fitting.

049 blinked harshly against the light. It only occurred to you now that you didn't have the slightest idea of how long he hadn't seen a ray of sunshine. The outside world in general.

You looked back at the facility. Big and eerily looming over you. Then you looked back at 049, a soft smile grazing his exhausted but still handsome features as he took in the outside world. It was utterly adorable how his eyes lit up while taking in his surroundings.

His smile grew fond as he turned towards you. That soft expression released a swarm of butterflies inside your stomach. 

"Come.", you smiled tiredly, extending your hand. He took it and interlaced your fingers. Using the other to caress your cheek.

"Let's leave this place.", you breathed, breathless at his proximity.

He watched you through half lidded eyes. Your lips parted in anticipation. He kissed you tenderly. Your heart fluttered.

"Together.", he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that marks the end of this journey!  
> Wow, can't believe I pulled through until the finish line. Feels great to finally be done! There were times where I wasn't satisfied with the chapter I wanted to post and wanted to scrap everything, even though I already edited it the day before and was fine with it then, lol. But thanks to all your encouraging words I managed to get myself up again. Seriously, I can't thank you dear readers enough for picking up this story and deciding to give it a chance! I am eternally grateful for all the comments, kudos, bookmarks.  
> And especially YOU for reading this.


	19. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never think that you as a reader don't impact the author! This chapter was only possible due to the enormous support and kindness I have been receiving from you! It really fueled my want to write a last bit for this since a lot of you asked me how their life would be after all escaping the madness that was the foundation. Special thanks to Vannah, a dear reader that has given me immense support for this fanfiction and huge inspiration for this chapter!   
> This will definitely be the last one so, hope you enjoy~

The sun stretched its warm rays across the wide green fields, inquiring the birds to start their morning chanting. You awoke to the gentle sound being carried over through the cracked window. A small breeze leisurely made the curtains sway and tickled your face. The sun perfected the scene by gently touching your skin. 

You let out a fulfilled sigh and took in everything of that peaceful moment. A hand caressed your hair and you looked up into 049's softly smiling face.

The plague doctor mask was only a memory by now. He had, although hesitantly, agreed to stop wearing it, understanding the importance of laying low and that his attire wasn't the best disguise.

"Good morning.", he mumbled.  
You couldn't help the tender smile forming on your face as well and nuzzled deeper into the covers and his cozy, familiar embrace. 

"You're already awake", you giggled softly. It was unusual for him to still be in bed with you when he was not asleep anymore. He preferred to get to work as soon as he was conscious, coming back once you were awake to give you your needed cup of drink in the morning. He was an early bird. Luckily for you, you managed to train him off of getting up at unholy early hours.

049 hummed in answer.

"How long?", you asked, taking his hand intertwining his fingers with yours.

"Half an hour perhaps?"

"What?!" You looked at him with wide eyes.

"I did not want to wake you, since you laid on top of me.", he said softly, nuzzling you closer. Your heart melted. It were small things like these that made you love him even more.

"Oh you...", you cooed and gave him a peck on the lips.

He chuckled lightly and grabbed your waist to secure you in place half on top of him. "I know how much you treasure sleep."  
He stole another kiss from you. It was over way too soon. You pouted. A smirk grazed his features as he caressed your cheek innocently. His thumb brushing over your bottom lip. Your lips parted in anticipation.

Teasing moments were rare for him. His half lidded gaze locked with your own needy one and finally he placed his lips on top of yours again. You returned the kiss just as passionately and relaxed in his arms.

\--

Like this, you stayed for a while. Simply enjoying each others presence and warmth, listening to the wind and birds outside.

"How does a mug of your favourite drink sound?", he muttered into your hair.

"Not better than you staying here with me.", you mumbled, already dozing off again.

He chuckled and pressed his lips to your hairline as a parting gift. "Someone has to get up, work does not take care of itself."

You whined as he gently removed you from his warm chest into the less comfortable bed sheets.

"I'll be back in a second."  
He bent down to whisper in your ear. "Je t'aime, ma chérie."

You flushed deep red at him speaking french with his god damn lovely voice. You hid your face in the pillows quickly. You had no idea what he was saying to you, but it just sounded so forbiddenly delicious and sweet. No fair exploiting your weakness like that!

His quiet laughter moved away from you. You dared to take a peek from the covers as you heard his footsteps leaving.

A broad smile crept on your face as you watched him leave.

Although he was partially okay with ditching the mask, you would never ever be able to persuade him into not wearing his plague doctor uniform. 

You were uneasy at first when you met the people in this small village, but they didn't seem to mind his attire at all. The villagers were surprisingly kind and hospital and helped you settle in the small cottage in the forest. It lead you to believe that you weren't the first people to arrive in such circumstances. 

Nevertheless you had stayed cautious, rarely leaving the house, only to get the essentials on the villages market. It wasn't just the fear of somebody recognizing you which was highly unlikely. You were way more scared about 049's pestilence haze. What if one of the townspeople was infected, and he killed them? You didn't want to leave, you were so happy here, finally having a place where you could be with him.

But as with all things in long terms, one day everything changed due to a little misunderstanding.

An elderly woman approached the two of you during your periodical market visits. Suddenly she started praying, asking 049 for guidance in her time of need since her husband was sick. Both of you were more than confused to say the least. 

You mused that she thought him to be some kind of priest because of the rosary that was part of his plague doctor clothing. Later on one of the inhabitants would explain to you that they had priests wandering over from the cities because this villages didn't have one. The woman probably mistook him for one.

But it was 049 that surprised you even more by suddenly busting out his latin skills, leaving you completely baffled.

The woman had smiled through tears and took his hand, saying more things you couldn't hear through your laughter at the look of utmost confusion he had on his face. She pulled him away from you and left you alone giggling like crazy.

The laughter had quickly died down in your throat once you had realized she had said "sick" husband. You freaked out running after where you had last seen them. The outcry of the elderly woman made your blood run cold.

Assumimg the worst, you rushed in only to see 049 taking care of the sick man. The woman was crying tears of joy as she saw her husband opening his eyes. It was quite the eventful day.

Rumors spread quickly in this small village and everyone had heard of old lady Arleen's husband recovering. Thankfully they didn't think 049 was Jesus Christ reincarnated. This villages was small, but thankfully not superstitious.

Since then, people had been coming and going asking for medical aid. This had been continuing for some years and you had formed your reputation as the towns healers. You had even started a small herb business that was thriving well.

"What are you thinking about?", 049 asked, snapping you out of your thoughts with his velvety voice.

"Just the time an old lady mistook you for a priest.", you snickered.

His face soured at the memory.  
"I learned the hard way that people don't speak their prayers in latin anymore."

You laughed even more. He nudged you playfully and handed you your mug, sitting down next to you on the bed.

Your laughter subsided. "You don't have to do this for me every morning."

"You say that every time. It is in no way a bother to me to make you happy.", he said sternly. With a kiss to your forehead, he emphasized his words.

You gazed up at him fondly. "Thank you."  
He smiled back.

"But I will wash the mugs after this. "

\--

"Seems like we don't have enough thyme here anymore.", you frowned.

"Already on my way.", 049 chimed in. "The garden has not been watered yet anyway."

"Okay then." You sat down on the desk again and resumed working on the package in front of you.

Your gaze wandered over to the window giving you a wonderful view of the garden and 049. A blissful expression settled on your face. 

A woman with sun kissed skin arrived at the front gate and greeted 049. 

You couldn't hear what they said, but instantly recognized Mirtha who came to get her sons medicine.

"Hello doctor!", she greeted with her usual happy nature. 

"Greetings Mirtha."

"And... how's your fiancée?", she asked smiling widely.

He flinched, shushing her violently. "I haven't yet!", he whispered, looking frantically from left to right. 

"But... I thought after you bought the ring from my husband last week..."

"I am going to, but on the day we arrived here. Which is in 26 days!"

"Oh... oh gosh. I- I have to talk to Gwyneth-"

"Hello Mirtha!", you chirped, descending down the stairs with the package in hand completely oblivious to the conversation. Both of them straightened up immediately. You looked behind you confused, but shrugged it off.

"Here's your son's medicine. Twice a day, one spoon in the morning and in the evening!" You looked at 049 expectantly for praise after remembering all that, but he was still standing as dense as a tree next to you. You bumped your shoulder against him with an amused smile on your face. His gaze flickered to you. You smiled brightly. He looked away quickly but not fast enough for you to not notice. He had blushed. That was fairly unusual. 

The urge to exploit his vulnerability was too strong. 

Your arms snaked around his waist, succesfully startling him. He kept his face away from you, but you could still see his blush deepen.

"Ah, okay, thank you for everything!", Mirtha squeaked and hastily extended her hands to accept the medicine.

You pulled away from 049, handing her the package. "I added the herbal tea you drank at our house last time as well since you liked it so much."

As soon as she got her hands on the package she dashed off. That was quite unusal too. Mirtha never gave up the opportunity to chatter for hours.

"Everything alright?", you asked confused. 

"Yes, certainly.", he pressed out and quickly marched off to escape more of your teasing. You giggled after his retreating flustered form. 

"I'll be going to town, some stuff needs to be restocked!", you called after him.

\--

You had almost forgotten the big market that was held every month attracting dozens of outsiders to this village. Unfamiliar face froliced around the plaza with inhabitants mixed in between. For its standards, the usual quiet village buzzed with activity.

Your fear of people had decreased significantly after you got to know the inhabitants. But new people still made you uneasy. 

"The usual I guess?", a voice snapped you out of your thoughts. 

You turned around to see Gwyneth smirking at you, resting her head on her hand. You exhaled the air you didn't know you kept in, and relaxed visibly. "Exactly."

While she got your items, you couldn't help but get twitchy again. Standing out in the open reactivated your nervousness all over. Your gaze flickered around uneasily.

"And that's all!"  
You jumped as Gwyneth slammed the bag on the counter loudly.

"Someones pretty nervous today, e'?", she said slyly. A mischievous smirk took over her customer smile. 

"Soo... how did it go with your man?", she asked raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Huh?", was the the only thing you could muster up in your tense state.

"I can still remember the day my man finally mustered up the courage!" Her eyes turned glassy.

"What are you talking about?", you asked confused.

Now it was her time to look puzzled. "But didn't...?", she trailed off. Her eyes widdening more and more. She slapped her big hand over her mouth. "Oh god...I didn't say a thing!"

This day continued to become stranger and stranger.

"Okay then...", you said, furrowing your brows, reaching for the bag.

"Finally!", someone grumbled behind you. Only then did you notice someone patting their foot impatiently. Out of the corner of your eye you saw something white. A white cloak...

You whirled around in fear only to come face to face with an old man carrying a white sack. "Hurry up lass!", he scolded. "Not everyone has all day!"

You snatched the bag from the counter and hurried off, heart still pounding wildly. Gwyneth's bickering with the old man quickly leaving your ears with each fleeting step.

You tried calming down your breathing, deeply exhaling and inhaling. It probably made you look like a dumbass standing in the middle of the market having a mini heart attack, but you couldn't care less.

Someone tapped your shoulder gently. "Hey are you alright?", a kind voice asked. You twirled around and looked into the blue eyes of an older adult. You didn't recognize him right away but remembered him being a local.

"Thank you, I'm alri-"

Someone in a white cloak stood next to a fruit and vegetable stall. The man must have noticed your terrified expression since he replied. "You seem pretty riled up, can I help you somehow?"

"I-", you stuttered. The person in white had finished conversing with the owner and started to head your way.

"I'm sorry I have to go.", you pressed out, fear tightening your throat and quickly dashed off.

There was no way they found you. There was no way they recognized you now. But you knew what you saw. 

You didn't want to leave. You didn't want to get seperated from 049.  
049.  
Thinking about him gave you the strength to look over your shoulder once more. 

You spotted the person in white immediately. Relief washed over you as you noticed that she was wearing a long white cardigan. 

No lab coat.

Nevertheless, it had successfully reawakened all your anxious feelings and fears.

You continued running down the path, not stopping even as your lungs started to hurt. All you needed now was him.

049 was still were you had last seen him. As if he had sensed you, he turned around and waved. 

You dropped the bag and threw yourself into his arms. He stumbled backwards but regained his footing quickly. "My, my someones pretty needy today.", he mumbled into your hair.

"I- I love you so much!", you cried out, holding onto him as if you would lose him once you let go. "I don't know what I would do without you!"

He paused. Then he pulled you into his chest gently, carefully stroking your back as if you were made of glass. A knowing expression replacing his smile.

"Me too. I love you too (y/n). So much it hurts." 

You felt yourself warm up. His words eased your sudden shock. A sniff escaped your throat and he hugged you closer. "I can't imagine my world without you.", you mumbled.

"We will not be separated.", he whispered into your ear. "I am sorry that it took me so long to finally do this, I had a special plan in mind but I guess the moment just comes to you." You felt him straighten up. 

"What are you saying?", you muttered, voice muffled by his clothes. 

He cupped your face in one hand.

"What I am saying is, that you are a very dear to me. You are the most important person in my life and the only one."

Your cheeks turned warm and you hid your face in his palm. "Stop with the flattering, you're embarrassing me.", you giggled softly, taking ahold of his wrist.

He took your hand in both of his.

"Will you marry me?"

Time seemed to stop for a moment. You seemed to forget how to breathe. Mouth open in surprise you looked at the ring in the palm of your hand. Then into 049's eyes. Words couldn't express the emotions you felt. Finally, you had the manners to close your mouth, only to open it again in a squeal of joy.

"Yes!"

You tackled him into a hug, muttering the same word over and over. He lost balance and fell into the soft grass with you. Neither of you cared about the grass tickling your faces. He laughed relieved and so, so happy, hugging you tightly while you showered him in kisses. 

Nothing ever goes as planned in life. It was only fitting that your proposal went just as unplanned as you two falling in love with each other. 

Perhaps life should take the steering wheel more often if it lead to such beautiful moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely thank you all, yes you person reading this, for everything.


End file.
